


Wait For It

by honestmischief



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Banter, Betrayal, Bickering, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Extremis, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluffy Ending, Frostiron Summer Exchange 2020, Getting Together, Humor, Implied/Referenced Mind Control, Insecurity, Internalized racism, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Loki (Marvel) Feels, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Loki's Scepter (Marvel), M/M, Mind Stone, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Past Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Post-Iron Man 3, References to Norse Religion & Lore, Slow Burn, Tony Stark Does What He Wants, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Wordcount: 10.000-30.000, Worried Jarvis (Iron Man movies), actual god loki, heat exhaustion, r2d2 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:15:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26221726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honestmischief/pseuds/honestmischief
Summary: Loki broke into Tony's workshop, looking for Extremis to fix a certain "problem" of his. To say that Tony was surprised was an understatement.
Relationships: Loki/Tony Stark
Comments: 51
Kudos: 413
Collections: FrostIron Discord 2020 Summer Exchange





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Hosio](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hosio/gifts).



> HI! I'm so excited to share this with my wonderful giftee, Hosio!! When I saw that you love Loki accepting his Jotun heritage, I got so EXCITED. I tried to incorporate as many of your ideas as I could!! :) <3 I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> This fic is completed. I'll add the next chapter around the end of the week :)
> 
> I want to give a big thank you to Startmyspark (Arty) for beta-reading this, providing encouragement, and sending me songs to listen to while I write. I couldn't have done it without you!! <3

Tony had almost forgotten what it was like to live in the tower. It had been months since he'd last been in New York City, and he honestly didn’t know how he felt about it now. Tossing the reactor into the Pacific Ocean had felt good, empowering even, but there was an emptiness in his chest that seemed to linger despite there no longer being an actual hole in it. His chest wasn’t even in pain anymore, but he couldn’t say that he felt better. He just didn’t know what to do with himself. 

Repairing DUM-E and U had only taken a few days. After that, he had spent the rest of his time tinkering, not on anything productive, but he had nothing else to do. When he was really out of ideas, Tony made his own droid, an R2D2 painted red and gold. He’d always wanted to create one when he was a kid, and DUM-E enjoyed having a new friend. 

Tony had been spending most of his time in the lab, but during the rare times he wasn’t there, he was in his penthouse drinking coffee or eating takeout. Pizza was usually his go-to and no city made it better than New York. He was eating a slice when JARVIS interrupted him. 

“Sir, there is an intruder in the workshop. Would you like me to alert authorities?”

Tony immediately dropped his pizza in shock, the slice landing on the plate with a soft thud. “Who is it? What do you see?”

“You shut off all cameras when you were making the R2 unit because you did not want Ms. Potts to have access to the footage. I am only able to know that someone is there through my sensors,” JARVIS reminded him. 

Looking back on it, Tony realized that had been a stupid decision. He just didn’t want Pepper to find out how bored he was without her and his suits. He knew that he should have been working on something for the company, so he shut off the cameras so the footage of him goofing off would have never existed. 

“Well, turn them back on!” he shouted. 

“The intruder has already left,” JARVIS said. 

“They have to still be in the building, right? Where are they?” Tony asked. 

He really regretted destroying all of his suits. He was defenseless. As his thoughts continued to spiral, he felt a familiar tension in his chest, like there wasn’t enough room for his lungs to expand with each breath even though the arc reactor was gone. Someone was here for him, trying to take something from his workshop, and he'd let his guard down. 

“No sir, they seem to have disappeared,” the artificial intelligence told him. 

“What do you mean they disappeared? They had to go somewhere!”

“The sensors in the workshop picked up a sudden appearance of a person, and they disappeared two minutes and 48 seconds later,” JARVIS explained. 

Tony knew that he had to see it for himself. It wouldn’t have been possible for JARVIS’ sensors to malfunction, they never had before. Without hesitation, Tony made his way to the elevator to go down to his lab.

“Sir, I recommend telling someone about this,” JARVIS said. He was always the logical one, Tony would admit.

“Not until I do a bit of detective work,” Tony told him as the elevator doors opened. 

“You are not a detective,” JARVIS said, sounding slightly disappointed but not surprised that he had to remind him of that. 

“I can play Sherlock when I want to,” Tony said with a wink. 

JARVIS was silent, most likely knowing that there was nothing that he could do to stop him. Tony considered himself a determined man, and no one told him what to do. Maybe that had been why Fury didn’t want him as an Avenger originally. 

Tony pulled up the readings from the sensors and found that JARVIS was correct. A person had arrived in his workshop as if they had popped up out of nowhere. They didn’t enter through a door or any other entrance, and they had disappeared into thin air two minutes and 48 seconds later. It didn’t make sense, the intruder couldn’t possibly have broken into the workshop without physically entering. There was nothing that frustrated Tony more than not knowing something, and this was going to be his newest puzzle to solve. 

“SHIELD may be the most appropriate people to call. I am sure that Director Fury or Agent Hill would arrive shortly,” JARVIS said. 

“Come on, J! Wouldn’t it be more fun if it were just us two on the case?”

Tony didn’t want to call SHIELD. He didn’t want to have to deal with formalities and legalities, and he didn't want to speak to the man who had originally thought that he wasn’t good enough to work for them. The same man who had  _ definitely _ noticed Tony dealing with Extremis and Killian and didn’t even bother contacting him to see if he needed any backup. He was Tony fucking Stark, he didn’t need help from a shady government organization to figure out who his unexpected visitor was. 

“I am just trying to keep you safe, Sir.” 

Hearing that always warmed Tony’s heart. There truly was no one better than JARVIS. 

“I’ll be fine, I promise. If anything really bad happens then maybe I’ll consider it,” Tony told him, not wanting JARVIS to worry. 

Tony started to build himself another suit. He didn’t know what/who he was up against, so he figured that having a suit was a good idea. If they were able to appear out of thin air, they could be really dangerous. Tony could be really dangerous, too. This was a welcomed challenge, he'd been so  _ bored. _

It felt strange building the arc reactor into the suit, since it had always been in his chest instead. He honestly had almost forgotten, since building the main structure of the suits had always been done through muscle memory. He knew that he didn’t miss the arc reactor, that would have been incredibly stupid, but he couldn’t stop thinking about how different he felt without it. Tony looked to his left at the shelf where he kept the frame containing the first arc reactor he had built in the cave. ‘Proof that Tony Stark has a heart,’ was what it said. He sometimes worried that without the physical reminder in his chest, he’d forget that he still had a heart. Waking up with a car battery in his chest had felt like being reborn in an insanely twisted way. Now all he had left was a scar, and he was scared it wasn’t enough. 

The suit was done a few hours later with Tony almost passing out from exhaustion on top of it. When JARVIS prompted him to go upstairs to bed, Tony didn’t even complain like he usually did. 

Tony spent a few days watching over his security cameras for any sign of a return from the intruder, but none ever came. After two weeks, Tony returned to his normal routine. ‘Routine’ probably wasn’t the best word to describe how he spent his time, as he didn’t really have much going on for him, but he tried his best to keep himself busy. This meant that Tony was somewhat surprised when JARVIS alerted him that the intruder was back. 

“Pull up the cameras, J,” Tony said as he sat in his penthouse, tablet in hand. 

The feed from his workshop appeared immediately on his screen, and he thought that his eyes were literally going to bulge out of his head when he saw who the intruder was. 

It was Loki.

Loki, who was supposed to be rotting in an Asgardian prison for the rest of eternity. The God of Mischief who had tried to take over the planet, like Earth was an insignificant floating rock in space that had meant nothing to him. 

“Send me the suit, JARVIS,” Tony said through gritted teeth. 

It was surprisingly comforting to feel the suit surround him for the first time in months. He hadn’t worn one of his suits since his fight with Killian. 

“I’m going to wait a minute before heading down there,” Tony told JARVIS. 

“Do you think that is a good idea, Sir?” JARVIS asked. 

“I want to see what he wants.” 

Tony had no idea what Loki could possibly want from him. It didn’t seem like the god wished to cause any harm to him, or else he would have appeared in front of him instead of alone in the workshop. Tony continued to watch Loki through the display JARVIS pulled up for him in the suit, but it looked like the god was searching for something. He was opening and closing drawers and cabinets (that were locked), looking increasingly frustrated when he didn’t find what he was looking for. 

Tony also noticed that Loki was wearing black gloves. All he was missing was a ski mask to be a proper burglar. 

When Tony arrived in the workshop, he noticed right away how different Loki’s appearance was from the first time they'd met. Last year, Loki had shown off his confidence with pride, acting like Tony and the rest of the Avengers were only ants for him to step on. This time, he looked stressed, with his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to find what he was looking for. He wore a green long sleeve shirt that was skin tight, showing no skin of his wrist. It was much different than his Asgardian armor. 

“Stop what you’re doing, Hamburglar,” Tony said, gauntlet raised at the god’s chest. 

Loki disappeared without a word and Tony let out a sigh. He was at least hoping for a word from his intruder, it would have made things more exciting. 

“I’m guessing he’s no longer in the tower,” Tony said to JARVIS. 

“You are correct, Sir.” 

Tony stepped out of his suit, seeing no need to wear it any longer. He stared at the spot where Loki had once stood, noticing that there was absolutely no trace of the god’s presence anywhere in the workshop. It was confirmed by JARVIS that Loki hadn't taken anything, but Tony couldn’t stop wondering what he'd been looking for. 

It was only a matter of time before Loki returned, Tony assumed. The god wasn’t going to stop searching for what he needed, so Tony had to make sure that he was ready. 

It took five more days for Loki to return. He wore the same black gloves and tight green shirt. His pants were black and tight as well, with black boots covering his ankles. The only skin that the god showed was his neck and face. Tony wasn’t sure if the god was trying to appear Midgardian (even though he really just looked like a member of One Direction), or if he was trying to hide his skin. He couldn’t think of a reason why Loki would have wanted to cover himself, but he also didn’t know why he would have wanted to appear human either. 

After physically searching through the lab with no success again, Loki sat himself down in front of one of Tony’s computers. 

“Okay, time to stop this,” Tony announced to himself and JARVIS before making his way to the lab. 

Loki was still sitting in front of the computer when Tony arrived in his suit. He looked frantic and disheveled, which Tony had never expected from him. The cockiness that Tony was familiar with was completely absent and he had no idea what caused such a big change in his demeanor. 

“Alright, Reindeer Games, it’s time to give this up,” Tony told him. He didn’t raise his gauntlet this time, hoping that it would stop him from leaving right away. 

The god stood up and took a few steps towards Tony, all signs of stress vanishing. Tony could feel the atmosphere in the air shift as Loki stood over him. Loki’s eyes were green, almost unnaturally so, and Tony only squirmed a little bit as he was caught in his gaze. 

“You are the only one who has what I need,” Loki said simply.

Tony suddenly remembered Obi pulling the arc reactor out of his chest for that same reason. 

“That’s a shame,” Tony said, placing his hands on his hips. “I guess you’re out of luck.” 

Loki didn’t reply before disappearing again. Tony was only slightly shaking, angry that the god had left without giving him more information, and somewhat nervous from having been the focus of his intense stare. He was convinced that a look from the god could kill him. 

“Are you able to figure out what he was looking for on the computer?” Tony asked his AI. 

“He attempted to open files on Extremis, Sir,” JARVIS told him. 

Tony flinched at JARVIS’ response, not ready to hear that word again. It had only been a couple of months since he removed the serum from Pepper. He stored all of the information that he had learned about it in his database, protected by JARVIS and other security measures. He was confident that Loki didn’t find anything, but he still felt unsettled by the fact that he was looking for it. Extremis was not something that should be in the wrong hands. 

Tony honestly couldn’t think of a reason why Loki would need Extremis. The god had accelerated healing and durability, so he definitely didn’t need the serum to enhance himself. Tony had a feeling that Loki wasn’t looking to use it on other people either. The way Loki carried himself, slightly panicked and determined, made it look like he'd been there out of necessity. Risking himself like that for other people seemed unlikely. This meant that Loki really needed Extremis, or else he wouldn’t have tried to steal it  _ three times.  _

Tony wished that Loki had only come back for the drink that he'd offered him instead of an advanced form of genetic manipulation. That would have been much easier. 

But Loki still had not gotten what he was after, meaning he was going to eventually try again, so Tony would be ready. 

As Tony waited for Loki’s inevitable return, he continued to tinker in his workshop. He didn’t have much else to do, and it was dangerous to keep his mind unoccupied. At least he wasn’t building a ton of suits in a row again. That meant he was doing better, right? And he definitely wasn’t dying, even though a certain Norse god was trying to steal Extremis from him. 

There were times that Tony had left his workshop, knowing that Loki wouldn’t attempt to enter if he was still there. He knew that he should have been trying to prevent Loki from coming back, but he couldn’t bring himself to. It made him angry that the god was trying to steal from him, but it was also thrilling, and he hoped that he would get a chance to talk to him about it at some point. He was so curious about why Loki needed Extremis. 

Four days later, Loki returned while wearing the same black gloves. This time, he wore a zippered black coat over his shirt. It was definitely an interesting outfit choice, but Tony had other things to do besides judging an alien on his taste in fashion, now that he knew Extremis was what the god was after. 

“So, Houdini, are we going to talk about this, or what?” Tony asked. 

“I do not see the need to,” Loki said, sounding tired. 

The god didn’t look well. His face was dripping with sweat and he was much paler than he normally was. After looking closely, Tony noticed that the god was swaying back and forth, like he was off balance and disoriented. 

“Do you want to sit down?” Tony asked. 

He was still angry that Loki was trying to steal from him, but he really didn’t look good. Loki tightly gripped the workbench beside him, trying to keep himself upright, but he ultimately failed and fell to the ground. Tony knew that he should have reacted quicker and could've tried to catch him, but he was stunned. Loki was a Norse god, one of the most powerful beings in the universe, and he had passed out in Tony’s workshop. It wasn’t Tony’s fault that he didn’t see it coming. 

“Fuck, J, what do I do?” Tony asked. 

Loki hadn’t moved since he had lost consciousness. He laid on his back with his eyes shut, and Tony could still see beads of sweat covering his face, the only skin he'd left exposed. It was the middle of February, definitely not warm enough to cause it. 

“You should probably get him off of the floor, Sir,” JARVIS said. 

“No shit,” Tony mumbled under his breath. 

Tony tried to lift Loki off the ground, but his Asgardian musculature made him pretty hard to move. Thank goodness, Tony had worn his suit. He placed the god on a cot that he kept in the workshop in case he'd been too lazy to go back up to his penthouse (which had happened a lot more often than he’d like to admit). 

Loki’s face still looked sweaty, and it bothered Tony a lot more than he had expected it to. It wasn’t like Tony cared about Loki’s wellbeing, since the god didn’t seem to care about him when he'd thrown him out of the window and had tried to mind control him, but Tony didn’t like seeing Loki unconscious. After taking off his suit, Tony found a towel and wiped some of the sweat off of Loki’s face. He noticed that Loki didn’t even feel that warm, perhaps even a little bit cooler than a normal person, but he still felt clammy. 

“JARVIS, are you able to take his body temp?” Tony asked. 

“20 degrees Celsius and I do not believe my scan is incorrect,” JARVIS informed him. 

Tony looked up at the ceiling in shock, even though he knew that wasn't actually where JARVIS was located. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. 

“That’s impossible.”

“Norse gods are supposed to be impossible,” JARVIS reminded him. “The CDC recommends placing cool wet cloths over the body to lower body temperature and treat heat exhaustion.”

“That might not be enough for him,” Tony said. A cool cloth wouldn't bring his temperature down much when it was already that low. 

“You have ice packs in one of your lab freezers,” JARVIS told him. 

Tony honestly didn’t remember why he had those, but he was grateful. He grabbed a bunch and quickly made his way back to the cot. He hated how long it took for him to realize that Loki still wore gloves  _ and  _ a jacket, even though he was sweating. The first thing that Tony did was take Loki’s right glove off, and he literally jumped two feet backwards once it was off. 

Loki’s hand was  _ blue.  _

Tony blinked, hoping he was just seeing things. It had been way too long since the last time he had slept, but Loki’s hand remained blue. Curious, Tony stepped forward, reaching out to touch Loki’s hand. It was cold, but clammy and sweaty, like it was meant to be even colder than it was. He also noticed raised lines over the dorsum of Loki’s hand that felt textured, yet soft to touch. 

“What the fuck?” Tony asked, mostly to himself, since Loki obviously couldn’t answer him. 

Tony realized that Loki really  _ was  _ trying to cover his skin, and he could see why. He was positive that Loki’s hand hadn't been blue when they had first met. That was something he definitely would have remembered, right? After having stared at Loki’s hand for too long, Tony took off the other glove and found that the left hand was also blue. 

“I should probably take the jacket off too, right?” Tony asked JARVIS. He wasn’t good at taking care of people.

“Yes, removing layers will help reduce his body temperature,” JARVIS responded. 

Tony removed the jacket to find that Loki was wearing a green long sleeved shirt that didn’t give his arms or torso any room to breathe. The material of the shirt was thick, and Tony had a feeling that the blue covered more than just the god’s hands. With shaky hands, Tony rolled up Loki’s sleeves to find that his suspicions were correct. The raised lines on Loki’s hands traveled up Loki’s arms, and Tony had to fight the urge to trace them with his fingertips. They were so  _ fascinating. _

“Stripping him feels wrong, J,” Tony said to his AI. He knew that taking off Loki’s shirt would help, but he didn’t want to violate Loki’s privacy either. 

“Place the ice packs on him and see if that helps. I do not believe  _ stripping _ will be necessary,” JARVIS said. 

Tony placed ice packs on Loki’s forehead, torso, shoulders, and arms, hoping that they would be enough. He also told JARVIS to lower the temperature in the workshop. Whatever was causing Loki to turn blue made him colder than the average person, and Tony knew that it was important to keep his body temperature low. 

“I believe his accelerated healing along with the ice packs are working, Sir. His temperature is already at 17 degrees,” JARVIS told him. 

At the sound of that, Tony let out a deep breath that he didn’t know he'd been holding. “That’s good.”

As Tony waited for Loki to wake up, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. Loki’s black hair was messy, tangled in knots as it fell to his shoulders and across his forehead. Tony didn’t understand why he felt the need to reach out and run his hand through it. Even though the god’s eyes were shut, he didn’t look like he was resting. The muscles in his forehead and temples were tense, like he’d been carrying more stress than he could handle. Tony was all too familiar with that feeling. 

Loki’s eyebrows suddenly twitched as he began to gain consciousness. Tony took a step back, not wanting to be too close and startle Loki when he woke up. Slowly, Loki opened his eyes, and Tony would have gasped if he wasn’t trying too hard not to scare him. Loki’s eyes were red. Not just the irises, every part of Loki’s eyes were  _ red  _ besides his pupils. It only lasted for a moment until Loki blinked, causing his eyes to return to normal, with green iris’ and white scleras. 

Tony was a genius. He was supposed to know everything, but he had no explanation for anything he’d seen from Loki. 

Loki lifted his head and surveyed his surroundings with a raised eyebrow, appearing confused that he didn’t know where he was. 

“Some advice, Loki Doki, try not to wear so many layers when your skin is that cold,” Tony told him. 

Instead of replying, Loki sat up and looked down at his arms. He jumped slightly in his seat as he studied his blue hands, like he’d forgotten that was what they looked like. He had to have known they were blue, or else he wouldn’t have worn gloves, but the sight truly looked like it had disturbed him. 

“You will speak of this to no one,” Loki said, green eyes locked on Tony. 

Tony didn’t even have a chance to say anything back to him before he disappeared. 

“Man, he really has to stop poofing out of existence,” Tony complained. 

Although Tony didn’t learn that much more from Loki himself, he was able to gain some information through observation. Loki’s hands and arms were blue, his eyes were briefly red, he had suffered from heat exhaustion even though his body temperature had been really cold, and it was clear that he wasn’t happy about it. 

Tony had almost forgotten that Loki was still looking for Extremis. 

In a weird way, everything made much more sense to Tony. He wasn’t sure how Loki had learned of Extremis’ existence, but he did know that he had to do whatever he could to stop him from getting it. Extremis was made to enhance human healing, strength, and durability, and Tony could not know what effects it would have on an alien species with a different genetic makeup. The serum worked by targeting an unused hole in human DNA, and Tony had no idea if that existed in Asgardian DNA. He’d have to assume that it didn’t, since Asgardians healed much quicker and were much stronger than humans. If Loki were to take Extremis, it would most likely not end well for him. 

Tony would have been willing to help Loki come up with another solution if the god had stuck around and talked to him for more than 30 seconds. 

Loki was considered an enemy, probably number one on SHIELD’s most wanted list, but Tony didn’t want him to suffer. As a genius, Tony felt like he could help Loki, and knowing that he could made him feel like he should. However, there was not much that he could do until he knew exactly what was going on. He didn’t know enough about Loki’s DNA to try to tweak Extremis for him and he didn’t know what was really happening to him. Loki turning blue was not enough information, unfortunately. 

So all Tony could do was wait for Loki to come back. 

It took a week. Tony was drinking a cup of coffee in his kitchen when JARVIS alerted him of Loki’s return. Tony didn’t bother putting on the suit because he wanted to appear civil.

Loki was dressed in the same gloves and jacket, seeming like he had learned nothing from his fainting spell. He didn’t look like he was overheating yet, most likely because Tony had kept his workshop at a low temperature to try to prevent Loki from passing out again. Even though Loki’s outfit was the same, Tony noticed some changes in his appearance from his last visit. Loki’s eyes were tinted red, as if the bright color was dimming the presence of their normal green. Tony had a feeling that eventually, Loki’s eyes would be purely red. 

Tony also noticed blue raised lines traveling up Loki’s neck from below the collar of his jacket. It eerily reminded him of palladium poisoning, even though it wasn’t the same. The only similarity was that something was happening to Loki, and it was spreading quickly. 

Tony held a vial containing Extremis between the pads of his right thumb and index finger. “This is what you’re looking for, right?” 

Loki’s eyes narrowed in on the vial, like it was the only thing in the room. “Yes. I need that.” 

Before Tony knew what was happening, the vial disappeared from his hand and ended up in Loki’s.  _ Fucking magic _ . 

“That was too easy, Stark,” Loki smirked. 

“Was it? Because I’m pretty sure taking that could kill you,” Tony said.

Loki’s face fell, and he looked absolutely defeated. It wasn’t a look that suited him well. 

“You think this serum will heal you from whatever is happening to you, right? I don’t think it will,” Tony told him as he took the vial out of Loki’s hand. “This was designed for us  _ puny  _ mortals. Our DNA has unused holes in its structure that Extremis activates. There’s no way of knowing what it will do to a different DNA structure.” 

“It’s healing capabilities is not the only thing that caught my attention.”

_ Oh.  _ How could Tony not have thought of that?

“You want the heat,” Tony realized. 

Loki’s body was freezing, and Extremis could increase its temperature. 

“Yes,” Loki said with a slight nod. 

“I can’t know if Extremis is an option for you unless I know more about you,” Tony told him. 

“Why should I tell you?” Loki asked, looking appalled. 

“You seem pretty desperate, especially because you've been trying so hard to cover yourself up that you literally gave yourself heat exhaustion. Have you noticed how it’s colder in here now?” 

Loki’s mouth opened slightly and then closed quickly, most likely because he didn’t want Tony to notice he was surprised. Tony couldn’t stop thinking about how  _ different _ Loki was from the Battle of New York. Desperation and fear had taken over, and he was drowning in it. 

“Are you dying?” Tony asked. For some reason, he didn’t want Loki to die. 

Loki glared at him, his eyes still a perfect blend of red and green. “That doesn’t concern you.”

“Actually, Loki, I think it does, since you’re trying to steal from me.” 

Loki looked around the room, like he was looking for an escape even though he could easily teleport out of there whenever he wanted. Eventually, he sat down by one of the work benches, giving into the desperation even further. 

He never answered Tony’s question. 

“I’ve been cursed,” Loki said slowly, looking down at the ground to avoid Tony’s gaze. Tony never expected the god to feel nervous having someone’s eyes on him. 

“What is it, a frozen heart?” Tony asked with a slight grin, hoping to lighten the mood a little. 

It didn’t work. Loki stood up as he summoned a dagger with his magic and held it against Tony’s throat. Tony was relieved in a way, it meant the real Loki was still there. 

“Don’t ever say that again,” Loki threatened in a low tone, his breath brushing against Tony’s forehead, steady and cool. 

Tony wasn’t scared, he was far from it, if he was being honest. This was the most alive he’d felt in months, even though any slight movement of the knife could kill him. Adrenaline was weird. 

“Glad to have you back. I thought I'd lost you there,” Tony said.

Loki stepped away, lowering the knife from Tony’s neck. Tony took a breath of relief, even though he hadn't been  _ that  _ scared, he was thankful to not have a knife against his neck anymore. With a glimmer of green magic, the knife disappeared. Tony was curious about where it went. Did it vanish from existence, or did Loki use his magic to put it somewhere else? 

Loki started to pace. “This is a waste of time.”

“I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s going on,” Tony said. He now knew that Loki had been cursed, but that still wasn’t enough for him to work with. 

Loki took a deep breath to steady himself. “My body is freezing. It started with my hands and it is spreading,” he finally explained. 

Tony raised an eyebrow. “And how did this happen?” 

“It is not your concern,” Loki said again. 

Tony didn’t want to get frustrated, but he also wanted to know more so he could try to help. He knew that he was lucky to get any information that Loki was willing to offer, so pushing him too far was not a good idea. 

Loki was right though, it was spreading. Tony could barely keep his eyes off of the raised blue lines on his neck. It hit too close to home. 

“I’ll try to help you stop it,” Tony told him, taking a step closer. “But I’ll need some time. I don’t have a solution right now.”

“I thought that you were supposed to be a genius,” Loki huffed. 

“I thought that you were supposed to be a sorcerer, but I guess that’s not working out for you at the moment,” Tony grinned. 

He should have learned his lesson from his last joke, but he hadn’t. Loki only glared at him this time, and he figured that he was lucky it wasn’t worse. 

“I don’t mean to sound cocky, but I’m your best shot. I can help you, but you need to work with me,” Tony said. He was proud of how patient he was being. 

Tony could tell that Loki hated relying on someone else to fix his problem. The inventor could empathize with that. He usually liked to take matters into his own hands when solving his problems and didn’t always trust anyone else. Being enemies made things even more complicated. 

“What will I owe you?” Loki asked, sounding uncharacteristically small. 

“A thank you?” Tony responded apprehensively. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?” 

“Yeah, I don’t really need anything,” Tony said with a shrug. He really couldn’t think of anything, and he wasn’t sure if he trusted Loki enough for a favor from him. 

“I don’t have much time until this consumes me, Stark.”

“Then I’ll work as quickly as I can. Stay in the tower until I’m done.”

“Absolutely not,” Loki was quick to respond. 

Tony honestly hadn’t been thinking when he’d made the offer, but he also didn’t want Loki to leave. He didn’t trust Loki not to do something stupid on his own, like falling into heat exhaustion again. This curse seemed very distressing to Loki, and Tony knew that he shouldn’t be alone. Tony knew that he definitely could not have been alone in that situation, considering he'd spiraled into a self-destructive episode when he thought he’d been dying from palladium poisoning. 

“If you don’t stay, I won’t help,” Tony told him. 

“You sound like you speak from experience.”

“Not quite. I was poisoned and was dying. It messes with your head, makes you do shit that you regret,” Tony explained. He left out that he'd been the one who had poisoned himself with palladium, but he figured that technicality didn’t matter much. 

“Fine,” Loki said, agreeing to Tony’s terms. 

Tony honestly didn’t know what to do next. What do you do with a cursed supervillain Norse God? 

“Want to order cheeseburgers?” Tony asked. 

Loki gave him a surprised, yet curious look. “What?” 

“Cheeseburgers. Chop meat with cheese on it between two buns. You can add vegetables, I guess, but that sounds boring, don’t you think? If I wanted vegetables, I’d get DUM-E to make me a smoothie.”

Maybe it had been too long since Tony had last eaten or slept. 

“Food would be appreciated,” was all that Loki said in response to Tony’s rambling. 

This was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I know that I messed up. I don't know how to apologize effectively for taking so long to update. Hosio, I am so so so so so so so sorry. I hope you enjoy, even though it's so late! <3 <3 Real life has been not so great, but things are clearing up now. Next chapter won't take this long, I promise!!!
> 
> Thank you again to Startmyspark (Arty) for beta-reading. I couldn't have done this without you!!!

“Alright J, you know what to do! Order the cheeseburgers!” Tony exclaimed, earning another confused look from the God of Mischief. “JARVIS is my artificial intelligence. He helps me with basically everything. If you ever need him, all you have to do is speak to him.” 

Loki gave him a short nod in response. Tony led him out of the workshop to the penthouse. He didn’t realize how weird that was until the elevator doors opened when they arrived. The floor looked different from the last time Loki had been here, the new window and floor being the most significant changes. Tony had never imagined that the two of them would be alone in the penthouse again, but here they were. He should have been more nervous about it, right?

“You’ve renovated,” Loki observed. 

“Yeah, had to get rid of the you-shaped hole in my floor.” 

“Maybe you can fix my back as well. It's still sore from that.”

“I’m not that kind of doctor. You'd have a better chance with Dr. Banner,” Tony smirked. 

The edges of Loki’s lips quirked slightly. “You’re the only Avenger with a sense of humor.” 

“Thanks,” Tony said proudly. “That’s a good thing, right?”

After letting out a low chuckle, Loki replied, “It makes things much more entertaining.”

“Glad to be of service,” Tony said with a dramatic curtsey, earning another laugh from the god. 

Tony had no idea why talking to Loki felt so normal. More than normal, actually. He was  _ enjoying  _ it, and it had only been a few minutes. The cheeseburgers hadn’t even arrived yet. 

“Do you want to take your gloves off?” Tony asked. He wasn’t trying to be invasive, he just wanted Loki to be comfortable if he was going to stay at the tower. 

Loki glared at him. It was becoming a familiar sight. “No.” 

“I’ve already seen it, if that’s what you’re scared of.”

“No,” Loki repeated. 

“Alright,” Tony shrugged. He wasn’t going to force him, and the temperature was cool enough for Loki to still be mostly comfortable. 

When the cheeseburgers finally arrived, Tony was thankful. If his diet consisted of only cheeseburgers, pizza, coffee, and alcohol, he would be content, even if JARVIS would be incredibly disappointed. Loki liked his cheeseburger and even had a second one. Tony was happy that Loki had liked it, he would have had to kick him out of the tower if he didn’t. He was only slightly joking. 

Tony decided not to talk about Loki’s dilemma for the rest of the night. He figured that it was important to develop a sense of trust. Of course, Tony knew that they would never  _ fully  _ trust each other, since Loki had thrown him out of a window and had tried to put him under mind control, but there had to be some in order to help the god break the curse. Tony wasn’t sure why he cared so much. All he had to do was help Loki get rid of the curse, but he didn’t need to make him feel comfortable and at home while he was here. Loki was still the God of Mischief who had tried to take over the planet, and Tony had a feeling that he should have been a little more concerned about that. But at the same time, he’d never been one to fully think through all of his actions. 

Shortly after dinner, Loki wanted to go to sleep with the excuse of wanting them to have an early start in the morning. Tony wasn’t thrilled about that. Being awake before 8:00 when it wasn’t because he hadn’t gone to sleep yet was exhausting. Usually Pepper had to drag him out of bed for meetings when they were together. Now, she made sure JARVIS sets hundreds of alarms for him, which was only effective 50% of the time. 

Tony was pretty sure that Loki was trying to avoid talking to him before they began their research, which was understandable. Tony didn’t really know what to say to Loki either. They were better off going to sleep and ending the night on a good note. 

Tony tried to fall asleep, but his mind wasn’t able to shut off. It happened often, but this time, his thoughts weren’t about things that he’d rather not think about. He thought about the possibility of tweaking Extremis so it didn’t target an unused hole in human DNA, so Loki would be able to use it without any harmful effects. Once Tony fixed the serum, the hot temperature and healing properties of it  _ should  _ work if everything looked okay in Loki’s body scans. Tony would also have to learn more about Loki’s biology before he did anything, and he had a feeling that the god would not like that. Hopefully after Tony explained that he needed to know more so he didn’t accidentally kill him, Loki would comply. 

Tony didn’t even realize that he had drifted off into sleep until he heard JARVIS wake him up in the morning. The only reason why Tony got out of bed so quickly was because of the unnatural feeling of it. It was rare for him to sleep without any problems or interruptions. For a second, he thought that he was still dreaming, but a pinch to his forearm proved him wrong. The fact that the best sleep Tony had had since returning to New York had happened with Loki in the tower was probably not a good thing, but he wasn’t going to think too much into it. 

When Tony entered the main room of the penthouse, Loki was already seated on one of the couches. He had a mug in his hand, but Tony didn’t smell the familiar scent of his favorite drink, which meant that Loki was drinking  _ tea. _ Tony was sure that he didn’t have any in the tower; he barely allowed the horrible drink in his sight. He was going to make a comment about it, but he didn’t want the god to threaten him with a knife to his throat again. 

Loki still wore gloves and a skin tight shirt, and Tony wished that he felt more comfortable showing his appearance around him. It wasn’t as if Tony didn’t like the skin tight shirt that showed off Loki’s incredible abdominal and chest muscles, (he actually really liked it, much to his surprise), but he didn’t want Loki to feel like he had to hide. Tony knew what the curse made him look like, so he didn’t see the point of Loki’s attempt to conceal himself. 

The blue was quickly spreading up Loki’s neck. Now, most of Loki’s neck was a solid blue color with the raised blue lines on top. 

“Morning, Reindeer Games. How’d you sleep?” Tony asked as he made his way to the Keurig. 

“Fine,” the god responded flatly. 

Tony inhaled deeply when the coffee started to pour into his mug, desperate to cancel out the smell of Loki’s disgusting herbal tea. 

“I slept great,” Tony told him. 

“I am so happy for you,” Loki responded with sarcasm flowing through his words. 

“You should be, considering my brain needs rest in order to help you with your little problem.” 

Loki sighed before taking a sip of his tea. “When do we start?” 

“When I’m done with my coffee.”

“Don’t you need food?” 

“There’s time for food later,” Tony shrugged. 

“Sir, I advise that you eat breakfast before working,” JARVIS said. Typical. 

Tony went through his cabinets in search of quick food, knowing that he shouldn’t fight with his AI in front of his guest. After a few minutes of looking, he found a box of Cap’n Crunch. Hoping that it wasn’t expired but too lazy to look for the date, Tony poured some into two bowls and added milk. 

“What is this?” Loki asked. 

“Cap’n Crunch, a favorite cereal of human children.”

“You’re feeding me food for  _ children _ ?” 

_ Oops.  _ Tony didn’t exactly mean to feed a childish, sugary, cereal to an alien prince, but he wasn’t thinking. 

“Well, I eat it and I’m not a child.”

Loki chuckled lowly. “Are you sure about that?” 

“Wow. I’m hurt,” Tony said after a dramatic gasp. 

Loki only smirked before taking a spoonful of the cereal. After eating a few, Tony noticed Loki’s lips quirk up slightly, but he didn’t comment on it. He knew that the god would never admit to liking the food after the conversation they just had. They finished their breakfast in a comfortable silence. Tony wished that he knew what was going on in Loki’s head. He could empathize with how Loki was feeling, since he knew what it was like to have something spread and not know how to fix it. He wished that he could do more to help. When Tony had been dying from palladium poisoning, he hadn’t let anyone help him, which he had realized later on had not been a good thing to do. Tony was going to make sure that Loki was better off than he was. 

Tony just really hoped that whatever was happening to Loki, it didn’t hurt. 

“Are you ready?” Tony asked after he put the bowls in the sink. He could deal with those later. It was time for science. 

“Yes,” Loki said with a trace of desperation in his voice. 

As they rode the elevator down, Tony tried to think of the best way to ask Loki if he could do scans. He knew that no matter what he said, Loki wouldn’t be happy. When they arrived, Tony couldn’t say anything because he was immediately greeted by excited beeping from all of his bots. The red and gold R2D2 rushed over to Tony, the loudest of them all. 

“Hey, R2,” Tony said with a grin. 

“The robot has feelings?” Loki asked. 

“Of course! All of the bots do. This is R2D2, and those two bots over there are DUM-E and U.” 

“Hello, bots,” Loki said as he looked around the workshop. 

Tony felt a smile creep up his face. It wasn’t often that someone acknowledged his bots, so he could hear them beeping in delight. Before starting anything, Tony made another cup of coffee. He was going to need a lot of caffeine for this. 

“Do you have a plan besides drinking that horrible drink?” Loki asked. 

“I could kick you out of here for saying that,” Tony threatened. 

“We need a plan, Stark,” Loki said with a serious expression. 

Alright, fine. It wasn’t the time for joking around. Tony sometimes had trouble with that. 

“I’m going to need to do a body scan,” Tony mumbled under his breath. It was ridiculous, Loki would hear it with his enhanced hearing or he'd just make him repeat it. 

“Absolutely not,” Loki was quick to say. 

“I can’t know if I can match Extremis to your body if I know nothing about how your body works. I don’t know anything about Asgardians’  _ superior  _ biology,” Tony explained, trying to be patient. 

Tony understood why Loki was hesitant to let him do a body scan. They were enemies, and having an in-depth look into Loki’s biology would put the god at a disadvantage. If their roles were reversed, Tony would have done everything he could to get out of it. However, Tony literally could not do anything to help Loki if he didn’t have more information. He didn’t want to try something that would react negatively because he didn’t know anything about Loki’s physiology. 

“What would the body scan entail?” Loki asked quietly, like he was forcing himself to consider it even though he clearly didn’t want to. He was desperate. 

“JARVIS will run a scan on your body. He’ll then show a projection of your organs, some of your metabolic processes, and other internal processes, since those are what seem to be affected by your curse. This isn’t normally my area of science, so if we need more than what JARVIS can show me I can order more equipment,” Tony explained. 

“I can sense that you have good intentions. Why?” 

Loki gave him a curious stare, like his eyes were looking into his soul. Tony noticed right away that the green had faded even more from the day before, leaving only a trace of the unnatural emerald color. Even with the change in color, it was clear that this was still Loki. His mischievous and calculating look would always be present, no matter the color of his eyes.

“Contrary to popular belief, I don’t want you dead,” Tony said simply, even though it probably wasn’t a simple thing to say to a villain. It felt easy to Tony, though. 

“I will let you do it, but make it quick,” Loki said with a pained expression. “I don’t want you studying my body for too long.” 

“Alright, J. Set it up.” 

Tony led Loki to the corner of the workshop where JARVIS could do the scan. As Loki stood in place, JARVIS did his thing, projecting a blue light that slowly scanned Loki from head to toe. It only took a few minutes, but Tony could tell that Loki was uncomfortable the entire time. He had to do something to make Loki feel more at ease later. Maybe he could order a cake for the two of them. Cake always made Tony happy. 

“Scan is complete. Configuring image now.” JARVIS stated. 

Tony took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the biggest monitor in the workshop. He swayed back and forth in the spinny-chair, feeling both excited and nervous to see the image. After a minute, Tony gestured to Loki to sit next to him, since the god still stood nervously in the corner of the lab. It was still a weird sight to see him like that. 

“Scan analysis is complete, Sir.” JARVIS announced as he displayed the image on the monitor. 

Loki sat completely still in his seat, and Tony wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. The god looked emotionless as he studied the scan. 

Tony was surprised to see that internally, Loki’s body looked similar to a human’s. The main difference was that Loki had more neurons than mortals did, which made a lot of sense. Beings with longer life spans needed more neural connections to last thousands of years and to keep up with enhanced strength and senses. 

Anatomy and physiology had never been Tony’s best subjects, he preferred science that didn’t involve the body, but he was still a genius and knew a lot about it. The most noticeable thing about Loki’s brain was how his Hypothalamus lit up brighter than Christmas lights. It took a moment for Tony to realize why, since most of his anatomy and physiology knowledge was hidden in the depths of his mind, but it made sense. The Hypothalamus controls the regulation of body temperature, and Loki’s was well below normal. 

“What’s Thor’s body temperature?” Tony asked.

“I do not see how that’s relevant,” Loki said sharply. 

“I need a baseline so I can compare your current body temperature to what it was before. Your body temperature regulation center of the brain is very active,” he explained. 

“We’re done for today. No more scans for now,” Loki said.

“What? We’ve only looked at it for a few minutes!” Tony exclaimed. 

“When I agreed to this, I stated that I did not want you looking for long. We will resume tomorrow,” Loki told him. He looked visibly uncomfortable, with furrowed eyebrows and a frown. His gloved hands were trembling slightly. 

“Alright, JARVIS, turn off the monitor for now.” 

Tony was frustrated. He was trying his best to help Loki, but the god wasn’t letting him. However, he also understood that it was time to stop. Tony didn’t want to push Loki too far out of his comfort zone. If Tony was going to help Loki, they had to learn to trust each other. 

Loki returned to his guest room, most likely for much needed alone time. Tony was left thinking about what he’d seen from the scan, since he didn’t want to risk pulling it up again without Loki’s consent. As much as he wanted to study it even more, he knew that it wasn’t right. 

Tony spun around in his chair again, deep in thought. The genius had never been able to sit still when he worked; he was a kinesthetic learner and always needed to do something with his hands or body to concentrate. He knew that Loki had to have known that his body temperature was much lower than normal, it was clear by the color and feeling of his skin. The prince had been desperately covering the changing color of his skin, to the point where it'd damaged his health. So if Loki was fully aware of his change in body temperature, why did he react so negatively to Tony’s questioning about it? Why was he so quick to stop the discussion of it?

In a quick 360 degree spin of his chair, Tony had a realization. Loki was hiding something. He  _ knew  _ why his body temperature had dropped, but he didn’t want Tony to know. 

Here Tony was, trying to be a good person and helping the man who had tried to take over his planet, and Loki had been  _ lying  _ to him. How was Tony supposed to fix what was going on without all of the available information? He was furious. It wasn’t like Tony had to help him, any sane person would have said no, but he was trying to be  _ good.  _ It wasn’t easy for him to do the right thing, and he was trying his best to be the kind of person that helped people and stopped them from dying because he had the power and intellect to do something about it, but Loki wasn’t letting him do it effectively. 

Tony glanced at the shelf that held his first arc reactor. “Proof that Tony Stark has a heart.” He read it over and over again to remind himself. Seeing the statement displayed helped reinforce it in his mind. If he had a heart, why did his chest still feel empty? The more he read it, the more he calmed down. After a deep breath, Tony made his way to the elevator to confront Loki. He was going to be calm and rational about this. There had to be a reason why Loki was hiding something from him. That’s what he wanted to believe. 

Tony found the God of Mischief seated at the kitchen table with another cup of tea. There was a book with a title in an unfamiliar language placed in front of him, but Tony had a feeling that Loki hadn’t opened it. Tony sat down across from Loki to talk to him. 

“What aren’t you telling me?” Tony asked.

Loki took a deep breath and a large sip of his tea. After placing his mug back on the table, he looked right into Tony’s eyes with a pained expression. Whatever was going on, Loki was not happy to talk about it. 

“I should have known that you would have seen through my omission,” Loki said. 

Yeah, he should have. Tony was a  _ genius,  _ so of course he was going to figure it out. 

“So tell me now,” Tony said patiently. He wanted to listen, to let Loki learn to trust him. 

“I am not cursed. I am a Jotun,” Loki stated, his eyes still boring into Tony’s own. 

“Gonna be honest, Lokes, I have no idea what that means.” 

“The Jotnar are Frost Giants, a monstrous race and enemies of Asgard. A curse would have been a better fate.”

Tony felt his eye twitch. “Do they have blue skin and red eyes?” 

Loki only nodded in response. 

“So you’re not dying? This is just what you’re supposed to look like?” Tony asked. 

Loki visibly winced, like he was in pain. Tony was familiar with emotional pain. 

Tony took a moment to think before saying anything else. It was clear that Loki’s race was a tough subject for him. He was so desperate to change it that he’d wanted to inject Extremis into himself to change his biology, making him warmer. He wanted to melt the ice inside of him, which Tony assumed would have been harmful, and possibly would have killed him. Loki hated his appearance so much that he wanted to risk his life to change it. 

A slight pain twinged in Tony’s chest. He didn’t like what this was doing to Loki. 

“Okay, I’m not mad,” Tony said, unsure if that would have even mattered to Loki. The god probably didn’t care about his feelings, but he knew that he was in an emotional place. “I just have some questions so I can figure out how to help you.”

“Alright,” Loki said quietly. 

“If you are a Jotun-”  _ Another wince,  _ “Why are you only blue now, and not when you were here last year?” 

“I’ve worn a glamour for my whole life. I did not know of my true heritage until three years ago, when I was touched by a Frost Giant and it caused my skin to change,” Loki explained. He took a deep breath, steadying himself before continuing. “I had always required a stimulus to cause the change until last month, when I noticed my fingertips turning blue. It has expanded ever since, and I have not been able to change my form. I do not know why.” 

Tony nodded slowly, trying to process what he’d been told. Loki hadn't known that he was a Jotun until three years ago. He was raised as a prince of Asgard for a thousand years and didn’t know he was biologically part of the enemy race until  _ three years ago.  _ Tony was too familiar with horrible parenting, but that was  _ awful _ . 

“So you’re normally able to shapeshift, but that’s not working at the moment?”

“Yes. I am unable to shift my form and any attempt to create an illusion does not work. I am stuck.” 

Tony didn’t know enough about magic to offer any explanation for that, but it seemed weird that Loki’s magic had suddenly stopped working. There had to be something else at play.

Loki clasped his hands together, placing them on the table. His eyes didn’t look away from Tony’s as he spoke. “You fix things, Stark. It’s what you do best, and now I need you to fix me.”

The uncomfortable feeling in Tony’s chest strengthened. Loki spoke with determination in his voice, like he honestly believed that he  _ needed  _ to be fixed, like there was no other option. Like there was something wrong with him, just for existing. Tony couldn’t let him live with that amount of hatred towards himself any longer. He didn’t want Loki to think of himself as something that had to be fixed, broken. 

Was Loki truly broken? Or did he only have cracks in his foundation? No matter what, he was still Loki, even if he looked a little different than he had originally planned. 

“I’m going to help you, but I’m not going to fix you. You’re not one of my projects, Loki, you’re a person,” Tony told him honestly. 

Being forced into the appearance of the race that Loki had been taught to fear had to be traumatic for him. If Loki was going to learn to accept himself for who he was, he had to be gradually exposed to his true appearance. The lack of control of his skin was only making things worse, but Tony would do everything he could to help Loki do this the right way. That meant that he had to figure out what was causing Loki’s appearance to change after all of his years of repressing it. 

It only lasted for a second, but Loki’s eyes widened, showing the vulnerability that he had been trying so hard to hide since the first time he'd entered Tony’s tower. 

“Your optimism is foolish,” Loki said. 

“I think we’ve had a long day already. We'll go back into the lab tomorrow to figure out what we’re going to do next,” Tony said to him, even though it was only late afternoon. Now that Tony knew that Loki wasn’t dying, he didn’t have to rush to find a solution. Loki definitely wasn’t in the right state of mind to continue until the morning. 

Tony needed to think of something for them to do. He knew what it was like to need a distraction, but he usually went into his workshop when that happened. Tinkering always helped to calm his mind down, and he needed to figure out what Loki’s version of tinkering could be. 

“So, what do you do for fun?” Tony asked. 

Loki almost choked on his tea. “I was not expecting that question.” 

“Do you have fun up in godland?” 

Loki furrowed his brows, like he was trying to think. “Mischief brings me joy, or working on my spells.” 

“So do those help when you’re angry?” 

“I usually burn things when I am angry,” Loki said, like it was no big deal at all. 

Tony tilted his head to the side. “Is that a healthy coping mechanism?” 

He felt like he was being hypocritical, since he definitely was not known for having healthy coping mechanisms. JARVIS, Pepper, Rhodey, and Happy had told him frequently. But setting things on fire sounded extreme. Things must be a lot different in Asgard. 

Loki held out his hand, and a small flame appeared in his palm, surrounded by the green aura of his magic. The contrast of the bright orange flame against Loki’s blue hand was mesmerizing, and Tony found his eyes glued to it. “I am the god of fire, Stark. Burning things is a natural reaction for me.” 

“What? Since when?” Tony questioned. Thor had always called him the God of Mischief, but never the god of fire. 

“Most of the Aesir find my mischievous nature more alarming,” Loki told him after putting the flame out. 

Mischief was more alarming than actual  _ fire?  _ Asgard seemed like a weirder place every time Tony learned something new about it. Tony wondered how the Asgardians felt when Loki used his fire for his mischief. It must have terrified all of them, but Tony didn’t feel as scared at the thought of it. The god who had tried to take over the planet a year ago seemed less scary with every minute that he spent in the tower. 

“Well, how about we try something that doesn’t involve fire?” Tony suggested. DUM-E had a fire extinguisher, but Tony had a feeling Loki’s fire would be too big for the bot to handle. 

“What do you have in mind?” Loki asked with a curious expression.

Tony almost laughed to himself. If he knew what to do when he was upset or stressed, he would be an incredibly different person. Someone that got more sleep and drank more water instead of coffee. He usually had no idea how to help himself, so trying to help someone else felt like too much pressure. 

“We can go for a drive?” It sounded like a question, even though Tony hadn’t intended it to. It was the first thing he'd thought of. 

“I do not want anyone else to see me like this,” Loki responded. 

“I have tinted windows and you can borrow a pair of my sunglasses if you want. You’ll be fine,” Tony told him.

Loki ended up agreeing to go for a drive, and Tony had a hard time figuring out which of his cars to take as they made their way to the garage. All of his cars were his babies, and picking one out for a drive always felt like picking a favorite child, even though he loved them all equally. 

“Pick any car you’d like,” Tony said to Loki instead of making the decision for himself. 

Loki surveyed the room with his eyes, looking at each car. “That one,” he said, pointing to the red Lamborghini with a gold trim. 

Tony snorted. “You have expensive taste.” He shouldn’t have been surprised. Loki was a prince. 

Before getting in the car, Tony searched for a pair of sunglasses for Loki to use. He frequently left them around the tower, forgetting where he put them. Usually when he wore a pair, it was because they were the first ones that he’d found. After a few minutes, he found sunglasses with a gold frame and green tinted lenses. They were perfect for Loki. When Loki put them on, Tony smiled to himself. They suited him well, even with his mostly blue skin. 

“What is so amusing to you, Stark?”

“They look good on you. You should keep them,” Tony told him. 

The edges of Loki’s lips quirked at the compliment, but it only lasted for a second. 

“Are you ready?” Tony asked. 

Loki nodded before getting in the car. Tony took a deep breath after taking a seat, inhaling the fresh scent of the car. He always felt at home when he was driving, and he hoped that the drive would calm Loki down too. It turned out that Loki had never been in a car except for the back of the SHIELD pick up truck last year, so Tony had to show him how to buckle his seatbelt. Showing a 1,000 year old god how to do something so simple was one of the funniest things to happen to Tony in a long time. 

“Where are we going?” Loki asked as Tony drove away from the tower. 

“The point of going for a drive is to clear your mind and go wherever the car takes you,” Tony informed him. He then turned the air conditioning on to make sure that Loki was comfortable. 

“You have no idea where you are driving us,” Loki said, sounding exasperated. 

No, Tony didn’t have any idea, so he went with the first thing that he thought of. 

“We’re going to the ocean,” Tony declared and started driving in the direction of Long Island. “Have you seen it before?”

“I haven’t seen any of Midgard’s oceans in centuries.”

“I have a feeling that you’ll like it,” Tony said with a wink. 

Tony wasn’t much of a beach person, but he did enjoy it sometimes. He had lived on the beach in Malibu for years, but he hadn't stepped onto the sand often. He had spent much more time in his workshop than outside, and he slightly regretted not going out more before the mansion had been destroyed. The Pacific Ocean was beautiful and Tony hadn’t appreciated it enough when he had the chance. 

Tony could see Loki looking out the window through the corner of his eye. He continued to drive and let Loki do whatever he wanted, since he was sure that the god had a lot on his mind. The silence between them was surprisingly comfortable as Tony drove east. It would be another half hour before they reached the highway with an ocean view.

Normally, Tony blasted music when he drove. Hearing nothing besides the sound of his engine and AC/DC made him feel at ease, but he had a feeling that Loki wouldn’t feel the same way. The prince of a godly realm didn’t seem like he’d like classic rock, at least not at the moment. Maybe when things got a little better, Tony could introduce Loki to all of his favorite music. 

Tony exited onto the highway that would take them to the water, and he could feel the anticipation building in his chest, excited to see the ocean. He was glad that they were driving east so the ocean would be on Loki’s side of the car. He drove for a while on the highway so Loki could continue to look at the ocean. Even though Tony’s eyes were mostly on the road, he could see Loki’s breathing slow down, showing that he was calmer. 

Before the sun set, Tony found an empty parking lot overlooking the ocean. He figured that they could sit there until it got dark out. 

“This is peaceful,” Loki said a few minutes after they had parked. Tony was surprised that Loki was the one to break the silence. 

“Out East is even nicer, by Montauk and the Hamptons. We can go one day when we have more time,” Tony offered. 

Tony didn’t realize what he’d done until after he said it. He had tried to make plans with  _ Loki.  _ It was a stupid idea. Tony was sure that Loki was going to leave as soon as he had control of his form again. He wasn’t even sure why he subconsciously thought for a second that Loki would stick around. 

Did that mean that he liked Loki’s company? The god hadn’t been in the tower for that long, and a lot of that time had been spent trying to steal from him. 

Tony realized that he saw something in Loki through his supervillain exterior. He saw a man who had been dealing with trauma and self-hatred. With some kindness, Loki may become a more confident and happier person. 

As the sun set, the sky filled with a bright mixture of red, orange, and yellow. Tony didn’t know why he had never cared to watch sunsets often in the past. They were beautiful and welcoming in a way that Tony wasn’t used to. 

Everything felt peaceful until Tony had a sudden realization. The last time that he’d seen the ocean had been when he’d thrown the arc reactor into the water. He remembered feeling content, happy even, in that moment. But now, just thinking about it created a pit in his stomach. He should have felt relieved that he was healthy, but the absence of the arc reactor continued to take a toll on him. The arc reactor in his chest led him to become Iron Man, but who was he now that it was gone? He didn’t know. 

Tony just  _ really  _ didn’t want to go back to who he'd been before Afghanistan. He wasn’t going to waste his life again. 

“Are you alright?” Tony heard a smooth and accented voice ask. 

He had almost forgotten that he wasn’t alone. Loki was seated next to him, looking at him with a concerned expression. Loki, the God of Mischief and fire who had tried to take over Earth, was  _ concerned  _ about him. 

“Yeah,” Tony said, even though he wasn’t convinced. 

There had to be something wrong with him, right? Only a person with something wrong with them would freak out about no longer having a hole in their chest. 

"Are you sure?” Loki asked. He was the god of lies and most likely could see right through him

“Yeah,” Tony responded with a slight nod. He was in no mood to talk about it, he usually never was. 

“Alright.” 

The sunset was still beautiful. The brightness of the colors in the sky had faded, but it wasn’t completely dark yet. Coincidentally, that showcased how Tony felt at that exact moment. He wasn’t in the dark, but he felt like he didn’t have a place in the world either, with all of his suits destroyed and no real purpose. It wasn’t that he regretted his decision to have JARVIS destroy all of his suits in Miami, Tony was aware that he was more than just his suits, but having nothing to do was a lot harder than he’d expected. 

A few weeks before, Tony had created plans to build an Avengers Compound in a large area of land that he owned in Upstate New York. He figured that it could become a training facility and living space for the team. It gave him something to look forward to, but it wasn’t something that he was going to start yet. 

“Thank you for bringing me here,” Loki said, interrupting Tony’s thoughts again. The God of Mischief was a secret softie for sunsets, apparently. 

“Yeah, of course,” Tony replied. 

When the sun had completely disappeared, Tony began their drive back to the tower in Manhattan. He was glad that Loki seemed to be feeling a little better. Of course all of his problems didn’t just disappear, but any temporary relief was a good thing. 

“So what is the plan now?” Tony asked. He had no idea what Loki would want to do next. 

“We must figure out why my form is changing,” Loki responded. 

Tony felt his eyebrow raise. “You’ll allow me to look at the scans again?” 

“If it is necessary,” Loki replied. His head was turned to the right, looking out the window as Tony zoomed by the other cars, since he was driving in the carpool lane. 

“This isn’t killing you, Reindeer Games. We can take as long as you need before we start again,” Tony told him. 

Through his peripheral vision, Tony saw Loki sharply turn his head back towards him. “No, we must reverse this as quickly as possible.” 

Tony wasn’t going to tell him that it would be a good idea for him to learn to feel comfortable in his Jotun form yet. It wasn’t healthy to despise his natural form as much as he did, but Loki had already had a hard enough day. 

“We can go back to the lab tomorrow,” Tony said. 

“Good.”

When they got back to the tower, they quickly ate some pizza before Loki returned to his guest room. It was going to take a while before Loki was going to feel alright, but Tony was glad that he was able to feel a little bit of peace at the beach. 

Tony didn’t sleep much that night. He had slept well the night before, so he really would have been pushing his luck if he were to do it again. He spent the night tinkering with random things in the workshop and when that got old, he played fetch with DUM-E. The new R2D2 got jealous and literally  _ screamed  _ when Tony didn’t pay enough attention to him, so Tony found another ball and played fetch with him too. He was lucky that U didn’t have any jealous tendencies or else he wouldn’t have enough hands to play fetch with all of them. U was kind of like a loner middle child, and even though he did enjoy being in the spotlight sometimes, he had never asked for it. 

Tony didn’t even realize that it was morning until JARVIS informed him that Loki was already awake and eating breakfast in the penthouse. The AI suggested that Tony should eat too, since eating was something that he often forgot to do, so Tony decided to join the god. When Tony arrived, he found Loki sitting at the table eating a bowl of Cap’n Crunch. Tony smiled to himself, amused that Loki enjoyed the sugary cereal. There was something hilarious about a supposedly villainous god eating a cereal usually meant for children. 

Loki’s appearance didn’t change that much from the day before. He had some new raised blue lines on the lower half of his face, but his face wasn’t blue overall. There was less green left in his eyes, but it wasn’t completely gone. Tony had a feeling that by the next day, his eyes would be fully red, and the god wasn’t going to be happy about it. 

“Good morning,” Tony said cheerfully as he started to prepare a bowl of cereal for himself. 

“Morning, Stark,” Loki responded. 

Tony felt himself grimace. “We’ve watched a sunset together, Lokes. Call me by my first name.” 

“If you insist, Anthony,” Loki said with a smirk. 

Tony let out an exasperated sigh. “Not what I meant.”

“You said to call you by your first name. Anthony is your name, correct?” 

“I don’t have to answer you,” Tony said as he took a seat across from Loki. 

“Sir’s full name is Anthony Edward Stark,” JARVIS said, leading him to become Tony’s least favorite child. At the moment, he was even below R2, who was only a month or so old. 

Loki let out an amused chuckle. “Anthony it is.” 

“Nobody calls me that,” Tony said with a dramatic groan. 

Normally, Tony hated being called Anthony. However, Loki’s deep, accented voice made the name sound slightly more appealing to his ears. Maybe he could get used to it if it was Loki who was saying it. However, he wasn’t going to give Loki the satisfaction of knowing that he didn’t hate it. Tony had too much pride. 

“Do you still want to go to the lab today?” Tony asked, changing the subject.

“Yes,” Loki was quick to respond. 

Tony quickly finished his cereal and put both of their bowls in the sink to be dealt with later. When they arrived in the workshop, JARVIS displayed Loki’s scan on the monitor. Tony began to study it again, focusing on Loki’s brain. There was a decent amount of brain activity shown in his hypothalamus because of Loki’s changing body temperature, but Tony wasn’t able to find what was  _ causing  _ it. 

The rest of Loki’s body looked normal, Tony thought. He couldn’t know for sure because he didn’t know anything about Jotun biology, but he didn’t see any red flags. Whatever was causing Loki’s issue was most likely happening in his brain. By the way his brain lit up in the scans, it looked like it was sending a lot of signals, probably to change his appearance and body temperature. 

“I want to get a better look at the hypothalamus,” Tony said. 

“I can zoom in on it, Sir,” JARVIS told him. 

“What are you thinking?” Loki asked. 

“J, pull up a hologram of his brain,” Tony requested, and the AI complied right away. 

Loki’s brain was projected in front of them. It was pictured in blues, with the hypothalamus as the brightest blue spot because it was where the most activity was. 

“You see that spot that’s lighting up like a lightbulb?” Tony asked as he pointed to the hypothalamus. Loki nodded, so Tony continued, “That’s your hypothalamus. It has a lot of functions, including regulating body temperature. Yours looks hyperactive.”

“Because the body temperature of a Jotun is significantly less than an As,” Loki said, looking closely at his brain. 

“Yeah. Your form is changing, meaning your hypothalamus has to keep your body temperature low. But so far, I don’t see a reason  _ why  _ your form is changing and you have no control over it.” 

“There has to be something,” Loki said, beginning to pace around the hologram. The uncertainty was definitely making him more stressed. 

“Like I said, this isn’t my usual area of science. Someone else may see something that I don’t,” Tony told him. 

He was sure that Bruce knew enough about the brain and nervous system to figure out what was going on. Tony wished that he knew Dr. Strange from Columbia Medical. He was some sort of neurological genius, but also kind of an ass based on what he’d heard from people who knew him. It wasn’t surprising, though. Most geniuses were assholes. Tony certainly was one. 

Loki came to an abrupt stop. “No one else can know about this,” he said sharply. 

Tony was going to have to spend the rest of the day learning about neuroanatomy, but he knew that it was something he could master quickly. He was Tony Freaking Stark. 

“JARVIS, pull up a typical brain scan,” Tony stated. He figured comparing it to a baseline was a start, even if it was a human brain instead of a Jotun one. It was better than nothing, and it seemed like Loki had a similar body structure to humans. 

It was clear that Loki had more neural connections than mortals did, which Tony had already suspected. However, it looked like there was more tissue surrounding Loki’s hypothalamus than average. After asking JARVIS to zoom in on it, Tony inspected it closely. It didn’t look like normal tissue. It looked as if it was trying to repair itself, like scar tissue. It honestly looked somewhat familiar. 

“Display Clint Barton’s brain scan from New York,” Tony said. He was onto something, but he didn’t like it. 

“Why?” Loki asked through gritted teeth. 

Tony ignored Loki, which would probably piss him off, but he didn’t care. He didn’t want to scare him, in case he was wrong. It was kind of foolish, but he was Tony Stark. He was rarely wrong about anything. 

Tony felt his heart sink into his stomach when he compared Loki’s scar tissue to Clint’s. They looked exactly the same, even though they were located in different parts of their brains. Clint’s scar tissue was located in his frontal lobe, which was the part of the brain in charge of decision making, thinking, and judgment. Loki’s was located in and around the hypothalamus. 

What made this unique to Loki and Clint was the existence of the scar tissue and return of normal functioning. When brain tissue is damaged, it is unable to repair itself. When the influence of the scepter was disrupted, the brain was able to repair itself to work the way that it originally was. The only evidence of the mind control left was the scar tissue. Clint’s scar tissue was more superficial, not as deeply rooted as Loki’s was. It was because Clint was mind controlled for only a few days, but the presence of the scepter must have been in Loki’s brain for centuries, if he didn’t know that he was a Jotun before a few years ago. 

“I figured it out,” Tony said, but he wasn’t proud of it. He hated that he’d made the realization, because it wasn’t something that he ever wanted Loki to have to hear. 

“What is it?” Loki asked, but he didn’t sound uncertain. He might have connected the dots in his head since Tony had asked JARVIS to pull up Clint’s brain scan. There weren't many other reasons why Tony would have had to do that. 

Tony really wished that he didn’t have to say it. 

“I think someone used your scepter on you,” Tony said as quickly as he could so Loki didn’t have to hear it for too long, even though it probably didn’t make a difference. The message was still there. 

Loki inhaled sharply, trembling slightly. He looked like he was trying to hide his fear, but Tony was too familiar with what fear looked like to miss it. 

“It doesn’t look like it’s in your head anymore. There is only scar tissue,” Tony told him as gently as he could. 

The god didn’t respond. He continued to stare straight ahead at his brain scan, like it was going to tell him all of the answers that he was seeking. The scan showed the former presence of the scepter’s influence, but it was never going to show the story of how and why it had happened. 

“You weren’t controlled in the same way as Clint. There is no scar tissue in the decision making area of your brain. It’s just your hypothalamus, which controls your body temperature regulation and other physiological functions,” Tony explained. 

Loki still didn’t move. Tony didn’t know what to do. He had an overwhelming ability to turn terrible situations into catastrophes without meaning to. He wasn’t the right person for this, and probably never would be. 

“You were still you, Loki. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Loki turned to Tony with wide eyes and a look of pure devastation. “Was I? It was all a lie, and someone went through great lengths to make sure that my true self stayed hidden.” 

Tony had no idea what to say, but it didn’t matter. Loki disappeared. 

How do you help someone who just found out that their existence was even more of a lie than they'd originally thought?

It wasn’t something that Tony could relate to, but he did know what it was like to run away from fear. He still had trouble with water even though Afghanistan had been five years ago. Dry shampoo was still his best friend. So he definitely wasn’t the best person to help, even though he was the only one who could. 

Tony didn’t know what to do. He felt like the only thing he could do was lay on his back on the ground and let out a long sigh, so that’s exactly what he did. He was upset. He absolutely  _ hated  _ that someone had done that to Loki. The God of Mischief had really grown on Tony over the short amount of time that they’d spent together, so finding out that the scepter had beenused on him made him really angry. Whoever it was, he wanted to shoot his repulsors at their head multiple times. 

Maybe some space would be good for Loki. Tony came to this realization about an hour after the god had disappeared. Loki needed to process the information that he had heard, and if he had to do that alone, Tony wasn’t going to stop him. However, he didn’t expect to worry about him as days went by without any sign from him. Tony wasn’t exactly surprised that Loki was silent, but it didn’t stop him from fearing the worst. He had no idea where Loki was or what he was doing. Tony just really hoped that wherever Loki was, he was safe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you liked it! Once again, I apologize for how long it took to update. Thank you all for reading. I appreciate every single one of you.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I made a last minute decision to split the last chapter into two more chapters, so this fic will be 4 chapters! The last chapter is done and edited, so it shouldn't be long before it is posted. 
> 
> Thank you again to Arty for beta-reading. You're the best!!

After a week had passed, Tony’s worry only grew. He was starting to wonder if Loki knew that he was welcome to return. When they had first started, Tony had said that he would help him figure out what was causing his appearance to change, which he had done. Loki didn’t have a need for him anymore, even though he still wanted to help. His stomach churned at the thought of Loki dealing with this alone. 

Tony felt like he had to do something to let Loki know that he was still there for him, but he didn’t know how. The God of Mischief didn’t have a phone that Tony could call. He needed to think of something else.

As a genius, he was used to coming up with solutions to his problems quickly, but he had no ideas after a few hours of thinking. It was frustrating when his brain failed him, even if it didn’t happen often. 

“How can I contact a Norse god without technology?” Tony groaned in frustration. Technology was his  _ thing  _ and he couldn’t even use any to help Loki. 

“There are records of Scandinavians between 800-1000 AD leaving offerings for the Norsegods, including Loki,” JARVIS told him. 

Tony could maybe work with that. 

JARVIS explained that as part of Norse religion, worshippers would leave offerings for their gods, such as Loki, Thor, and Odin. The offerings consisted of period-typical items such as mead, meat, and other types of food. Tony didn't think those would be very interesting for Loki, so he was going to have to come up with his own ideas. He wanted to leave offerings to let Loki know that he could come back if he wanted to. 

Tony hadn’t spent that much time with Loki, but he knew that he liked tea. He thought that leaving a cup out for him could show that he was welcome to return to the tower. Tony also grabbed the pair of sunglasses that Loki had borrowed during their drive and placed it next to the tea. Tony had told him to keep them, but he had left them here when he left. He didn’t really know if Loki had liked them, but he hadn’t said that he disliked them. Additionally, Tony left a cheeseburger for Loki since he had said that he liked them. Loki was also the god of fire, so Tony thought that it was a good idea to light a small fire to get his attention. Tony had DUM-E nearby with his fire extinguisher just in case anything went wrong. 

When everything was set up, nothing happened. Tony didn’t exactly know how to leave offerings for a Norse god, but he thought that he’d done a pretty good job. Maybe offerings didn’t work. 

“Uh, Loki, these offerings are for you if you haven’t noticed,” Tony said warily, thinking that he sounded like an idiot. He was pretty sure that Loki couldn’t hear him and that he’d done all of this for nothing. 

Tony took a seat and sighed. He should have known that it was a dumb idea. 

“I don’t know if you’re just ignoring me or if you don’t like the offerings, but I tried my best. I know you like tea and cheeseburgers, and fire is your thing, right? Ah shit, I forgot Cap’n Crunch, please don’t be mad,” Tony rambled. He was too tired to keep his thoughts to himself. 

“Anyway, I hope you’re alright. I get you want to be alone, but you’re welcome to come back if you’d like. Or do whatever you want, but be safe, please.” 

Was this how everyone had felt when he'd been self-destructive during his palladium poisoning? If so, he owed Rhodey and Pepper a big apology. 

“Okay DUM-E, you can put out the fire,” Tony said to the bot after more time had passed. 

“There is no need for that,” Tony heard someone say. He looked up to find Loki, who had arrived silently. 

Loki looked different than the last time Tony had seen him. He was blue.  _ Completely  _ blue. His face showed no trace of the pale skin that Tony had been used to seeing, and his transformation was complete with raised lines covering his forehead, cheeks, and chin. His eyes were also bright red, with no green left. He must not have been able to change back after his appearance completely changed into his natural form, otherwise he would have already. 

“You’re back,” Tony said with a surprised tone. He really hadn’t expected Loki to return. 

“It appears so. All of this is for me?” Loki asked, gesturing to the offerings with a wave of his hand.

“Yeah, I didn’t really know what you’d like, but I tried my best,” Tony responded with a sheepish grin. He didn’t know why he felt nervous. 

“It’s lovely,” Loki said before picking up his cup of tea. “I will put out this fire before it burns your tower down.” 

“That’s probably a good idea.” Tony said. 

Loki used his magic to make the fire disappear, and DUM-E let out some sad beeps because he didn’t get to use his fire extinguisher.

“What is the reasoning for this?” Loki asked after sitting down at the other end of the table from Tony. 

If he was still upset about his appearance and the fact that someone had used the mind stone on him, he was doing a good job of hiding it. Tony was pretty sure that Loki wasn’t fine. How could he have been?

“I didn’t know where you were,” Tony said. He wished that he could have smacked himself. Was that really the only thing that he could have thought of?

Loki furrowed his brows. “Most people don’t.”

“I guess I just wanted you to know that you could stay if you want to,” Tony confessed, feeling oddly vulnerable. 

Loki’s red eyes widened for a brief moment. “Why?” 

“I know what it’s like to be betrayed.” 

It had happened to him too many times. The image of Obie standing over him and taking the arc reactor out of his chest had never seemed to leave his mind. 

“Oh, you know what it’s like? To have your identity as a monster hidden from you for over a thousand years?” Loki asked, his voice growing a little louder. 

Tony took a deep breath to steady himself. He didn’t want to make Loki angry. “Well, no, but I don’t think you’re a monster. I was just worried.” 

“There is no need to worry about me, Anthony. I am fine.” 

Tony wasn’t surprised that Loki didn’t want to talk to him. They had only spent a couple of days together, and they were enemies at one point. Tony didn’t consider Loki an enemy anymore, even though most of his Avengers teammates wouldn’t agree. At the moment, Tony just wanted Loki to not be filled with so much self-hate because of something horrible that had been done to him. Tony didn’t think that he was good with emotions, but he could certainly try. 

“It’s okay not to be, Loki,” Tony said. 

Loki paused, taking a sip of his tea with his signature calculating look, most likely thinking about what he was going to do next. Tony thought of Loki as someone who had always thought through every move he made, and he had a feeling that Loki hadn’t felt like he was in control since his form started changing. It had to be really hard for him. 

“It was Odin,” Loki admitted with his eyes glued to the table, unable to look at Tony. 

Tony almost choked on his breath. “Your father?” 

He had to resist the urge to punch the wall beside him. Loki’s  _ father  _ had used the scepter on him? 

“Not my father,” Loki stated. 

Tony could agree with that. A real father wouldn’t use a form of mind control on their child, adopted or not. Loki seemed to think that he was the monster, but he couldn’t have been more wrong. It was the man who had raised him who was the real monster. 

“Did you talk to him?” Tony asked. 

“He told me how I wasn’t able to maintain an Aesir form as a baby. My own illusions and my mother’s spells weren’t enough. Odin had to be creative to find a way to hide my true identity,” Loki explained. 

“I’ll kill him,” Tony gritted through his teeth before he realized that he’d said it out loud.

“I appreciate the sentiment, but that won’t be necessary. Frigga sent him to the dungeons, ironically in my old prison cell,” Loki told him with a content smirk. “That didn’t stop me from setting fire to his chambers.” 

Tony couldn’t hold in his laughter. Everything about the former king’s punishment was  _ brilliant,  _ and he wished that he could have seen it for himself. 

“So Frigga didn’t know about it?”

“Odin knew that she wouldn’t have approved.” 

Tony nodded in understanding. He was glad that Loki had a parent who didn’t approve of mind control, even if she  _ did  _ lie about his heritage for too long. She was still better than Odin, and she had done the right thing when she found out what had happened. Tony was sure that Loki was still angry with her, rightfully so, but she had his back when she punished Odin, which Tony was thankful for. 

“And you don’t have to go back to prison?” Tony asked. He didn’t know why he’d never asked why Loki wasn’t in prison when he had started staying at the tower. 

“I cannot be held accountable for my actions while under the influence of the scepter,” Loki told him with a mischievous look in his eyes. The scepter had only affected his hypothalamus, but he’d found a loophole. 

Tony was really happy that Loki was able to find some form of closure, but he was sure that he still had a decent amount of healing left to do. There was no way that  _ anyone,  _ even the powerful Norse god of fire and mischief, could be alright shortly after that. Tony had a feeling that Loki wouldn’t want to be in Asgard, and he wanted him to know that he still had somewhere to go. Somewhere he would be accepted, no matter what he looked like. 

“Stay,” Tony said, almost sounding like he was pleading for him not to leave. He had a feeling that Loki was thinking about it. 

“You have already found the cause of the change in my appearance. That is all that we agreed upon.” 

“You can still stay here,” Tony said, struggling to find the words to properly convey why he didn’t want Loki to go. 

“I don’t think I ever will, Anthony, but I appreciate your offer to help. I will deal with this alone.” 

“You shouldn’t have to, Loki.”

Tony sighed to himself. He sounded like Rhodey. The first time Rhodey had practically begged Tony to open up to him had been when his parents had died, and then again when Jarvis passed away. Most recently, he had told Tony that he didn’t have to deal with his issues on his own when he had been dying from palladium poisoning. Tony really didn’t deserve a best friend who was as wonderful as him.

Loki let out a dry laugh. “I don’t see many people willing to listen to my problems.”

“Me, you dumbass!” Tony exclaimed. After a brief pause, he added, “Okay, I didn’t mean to sound harsh, but I’m trying to be here for you. I don’t know if I will be very good at it, but please let me.” 

“I am not easy to deal with,” Loki said with a slight grin. 

“I’m not planning on  _ dealing  _ with you, Lokes. I want to  _ help  _ you,” Tony explained. 

Loki stared at him, like he was studying Tony, trying to figure out if he had an ulterior motive. Tony understood, he knew that Loki most likely would never fully trust anyone ever again. Not after everything he had been through. It wasn’t like Tony knew how to trust anyone either, but he was trying to get better at it. 

“You’re serious,” Loki finally concluded. 

“I’m not much of a liar,” Tony said, even though Loki probably knew that. He was called the god of lies for a reason. 

“I believe you owe me a drink,” Loki said. It was easy for Tony to see his face begin to brighten up, despite his blue skin. 

They went up to Tony’s penthouse, where he poured them each a glass of scotch. He figured that Loki deserved his best alcohol after everything that had happened. They talked, laughed, and drank for hours, and Tony was genuinely happy. He hoped that Loki felt some happiness as well. 

The next morning, Loki was seated at the table in the kitchen with another cup of tea. It was a familiar sight that brought a warm feeling in Tony’s chest that almost made him freeze. He was used to his chest feeling empty, not warm. 

Loki was mesmerizing to look at. Tony still wanted to trace the raised lines on his skin, intrigued by their texture and pattern. Even though Loki hated his blue skin, Tony was infatuated by it. The coloring in contrast to his red eyes was aesthetically pleasing to look at, and far from monstrous. Tony thought that both of Loki’s looks suited him well, and he hoped that Loki would think so one day as well. 

“I have a massive headache,” Loki stated, distracting Tony from his thoughts. 

“We didn’t drink  _ that  _ much last night, Lokes,” Tony replied with a low laugh. 

Loki glared at him, clearly not amused by Tony’s joke. “Midgardian alcohol is not strong enough to give me a  _ hangover,  _ as you mortals call it.”

“No need to brag,” Tony chirped. “What do you think is wrong?” 

“I don’t know,” Loki said before hiding his face behind his mug. 

Tony was aware that Loki was usually the type of person who knew things, and the lack of control he had been experiencing was agonizing. Adding an unexplained headache to everything must have been horrible. Tony was sure that Jotnar and Asgardians didn’t normally get headaches. They healed too fast. 

“I can do another scan if you’d like,” Tony offered. 

Loki quickly looked up, giving him another glare. “Absolutely not.” 

“Wait a second,” Tony said before moving closer to where Loki was seated. 

There were two small bumps at the top corners of Loki’s forehead. Tony had never seen anything like it, but it almost looked like something was getting ready to poke through his skin. He'd have to get a closer look. He pulled up a chair to sit next to Loki. Without meaning to, he sat so close that their legs touched for a brief moment before Loki shifted himself away. Tony immediately felt bad for touching him unannounced, even if it was an accident. 

“What is it, Anthony?” Loki asked with a serious tone. 

Tony knew that he had to choose his next words carefully. He didn’t want to freak Loki out.

“You may have two bumps on your forehead,” he said. He definitely could’ve done better, but he also could’ve done worse. 

Loki’s red eyes widened as his face morphed into an expression of both surprise and confusion. His hands (noticeably lacking gloves) gripped the table so tight that Tony thought he was going to break it. 

“Can I feel them?” Tony asked. 

“No,” Loki responded, short and to the point. 

Everything suddenly made sense; Loki quickly moving away when they had accidentally touched, and not wanting him to touch his forehead. 

“You think you will hurt me,” Tony stated.

“I  _ know  _ I will hurt you. Touching the skin of a Frost Giant will give you severe frostbite.” 

Something about Loki wanting to keep Tony safe made him feel nice, and he wasn’t sure why. He hadn’t expected Loki to prevent him from getting harmed. He was aware that they weren’t really enemies anymore, they were definitely past that, but hearing that Loki somewhat  _ cared  _ about him was something completely different and unexpected. 

“You won’t hurt me, Loki. I’ve touched your hand before,” Tony told him. He’d forgotten that Loki wouldn’t have remembered that, since he had been unconscious from heat exhaustion. 

“When?” he asked sharply.

“When you passed out in my lab. I was taking your gloves off to try to cool you down,” Tony told him. After a deep breath, he added, “And I might have traced some of the lines on your hand. I didn’t know what they were and I was curious, and I’m really sorry.”

He knew that he was better off telling Loki the truth. Hiding what he had done wouldn’t have helped any of them. Even though Tony hadn’t realized at the time what the changing of Loki’s skin meant to him, he really regretted tracing the lines on his hands. It was invasive and unnecessary.

“Oh,” Loki said with an inquisitive expression. “You were not hurt?”

“Perfectly fine,” Tony told him, showing him his hand to prove that there was no scarring or anything left over. 

“You never fail to surprise me, Anthony,” Loki said with a slight smirk. 

This was a side of Loki that Tony had never seen before. He’d been vulnerable since telling him the truth about his heritage, but this was different. It was the first step to realizing that his Jotun form wasn’t dangerous. Tony was able to touch him without getting hurt, which was letting Loki realize that he wasn’t a monster. 

“May I feel your forehead?” Tony asked again. 

Loki nodded before gluing his eyes to the floor. He was probably still nervous, even though he knew that Tony had been okay when touching him in the past. It would take time for him to be truly comfortable. 

Tony slowly lifted a hand towards Loki’s forehead, not wanting to alarm him. His fingertips briefly brushed Loki's forehead before the god flinched and pulled away. From what Tony was able to feel, Loki’s skin was colder than normal, but not cold enough to harm him. There was a leftover chill on Tony’s fingertips, but he liked it. It was soothing. Loki’s presence was warm, despite his temperature. 

“I’m sorry,” Loki immediately said. “I didn’t think that it would be so difficult.”

“It’s alright,” Tony replied with a gentle smile to hopefully ease his nerves. “I’m alright.”

Tony wasn’t sure if he was thinking properly when he took Loki’s hand, intertwining their fingers together. Loki didn’t pull away, but he looked at Tony with a surprised expression.

“Anthony…” he trailed off, maybe because he couldn’t find the words to say. 

After a gentle squeeze to Loki’s hand, Tony said, “I feel you, Loki. Do you feel me?” 

Loki inhaled a shaky breath, with his red eyes glued to Tony’s own. Weeks ago, Tony had felt scared under his gaze but this time, it was different. He felt seen in a way he never had been before. Significant. 

“I feel you,” Loki replied. 

“Good,” Tony said softly. 

Loki’s hand was cold, but it made Tony feel alive. 

They sat there for a few minutes, hands intertwined, content. When Loki’s breathing relaxed, Tony used his other hand to gently feel one of the bumps on his forehead. Loki visibly winced, and Tony immediately pulled his hand back.

“It hurts?” Tony asked. 

“Yes,” Loki replied. He never let go of Tony’s hand. 

Tony was about to offer some ice to relieve the pain, but realized that would be very ineffective. He was also pretty sure that Advil wouldn’t work for gods, so he wasn’t sure what else he could do for him. 

“I think I know what it is,” Loki said. 

“What?”

“Many of the Jotnar have horns, especially ones with royal blood.”

“You have royal blood?” Tony asked. He didn’t know that Loki knew anything about his birth family. 

Loki’s face deflated right in front of Tony’s eyes, but he still allowed him to hold his hand. Tony was surprised that even though Loki felt uncomfortable and vulnerable, he still felt like he was able to hold his hand through all of that. It meant that something that Tony was doing was helping Loki to feel more comfortable around him. He was doing something right. Tony had never been good at emotions, so this made him feel good. 

“My real father was King Laufey of Jotunheim. He abandoned me in a temple due to my small stature, which was where Odin found me,” Loki explained. 

Tony didn’t fail to notice the way Loki slightly squeezed his hand as he spoke. 

“Well, he was stupid to do that,” Tony said. 

Maybe Loki was partly right, some Jotuns were monsters, but Loki definitely was not one. 

Loki let out a low chuckle. “I was given up by one horrible father and picked up by another.”

Tony’s own father wasn’t very good at being a father, so he honestly didn’t know what to say to help him feel better. His own struggles were not something that needed to be shared. This was about Loki. 

“But now you’re here,” Tony told him, because it was all that he could say. 

“I’m here,” Loki repeated. 

And Tony was so glad that he was, because he wouldn’t want him to be anywhere else. 

Days passed as Loki’s horns continued to grow. Loki’s headache never subsided, and Tony hated seeing him wince in pain whenever he moved. From what they could see so far, Loki’s horns were blue, with darker blue raised ridges. They grew forward in a similar style to his famous helmet, and were maybe a quarter of the size. Loki hated them, but Tony thought they were breathtaking. 

They spent most of their time together and Tony was honestly shocked that Loki hadn’t grown tired of his company yet. Tony knew that he had a big personality and was sometimes hard to be around, but Loki had shown no signs of annoyance. They watched movies, played fetch with the bots, and cooked, surprisingly. Tony hadn’t cooked a meal in ages, but Loki insisted that Tony should try. The prince had spent time learning from the cooks in the palace, and it was a hobby that he hadn’t been able to engage in a long time. Tony was happy to help him do something fun. 

They were also able to figure out the reason why Loki wasn’t able to change back into his Asgardian form. When Loki had been smashed into the ground by the Hulk, it destroyed the influence of the mind stone in Loki’s brain. For months, Loki’s seidr was the only thing keeping his appearance stable, but it eventually got too difficult for him to keep up. Loki’s seidr acted like a strained muscle, he had used it for too long, and it needed to rest. It explained why all aspects of Loki’s magic worked except for when he tried to use it to shapeshift or use a glamor to change his appearance. 

“Why do you hate them? I thought you liked horns,” Tony said one day over lunch. 

“My helmet is much different than these atrocities,” Loki scoffed. 

“I’m sure that helmet is heavy. Didn’t it give you a headache?”

“No, only the real ones do.”

Tony found that hard to believe, but he wasn’t going to disagree. Even the Iron Man helmet was a little heavy, and they didn’t have literal attachments to the front of it. How did Loki not fall over?

“We should distract you from your headache,” Tony suggested. 

Loki raised an eyebrow. “How so?” 

“JARVIS, disconnect your signal to this room,” Tony said.

“As you wish, Sir.”

Loki grew more intrigued with each second. “What do you have in mind, Anthony?”

“We’re going to prank JARVIS,” Tony replied, probably with the most mischievous grin he’d ever worn. 

“But I  _ like  _ JARVIS,” Loki said. 

“You do?” Tony asked, because he couldn’t help himself.

Hearing that Loki liked JARVIS brought joy to Tony in a way that caught him off guard. Tony felt that it was difficult for others to appreciate his bots, especially JARVIS because he couldn’t be seen. But Loki  _ liked  _ JARVIS, like he was an actual person worth liking, and that made Tony incredibly happy. 

“He’s charming,” Loki said simply. 

“He does have a certain charm to him,” Tony agreed. “But we’re still going to prank him.”

“Can’t we prank someone we don’t like, like R2D2?” Loki asked. 

Tony gasped dramatically before replying, “You don’t like R2?” 

“He screams every time we walk into your workshop. It hurts my ears.” 

“Sorry he doesn’t accommodate to your godly hearing,” Tony told him with sarcasm flowing through his words. “But we’re still going to prank JARVIS.”

“May we see the ocean again?” Loki asked. 

Tony paused, surprised that Loki would want that. He remembered that Loki seemed at peace while they had watched the sunset by the shore, but he hadn’t expected him to want to go back and do it again. Tony wondered if that meant he was still doing something right. He honestly found it hard to believe. 

“Yeah, of course.” Tony said. 

It was perfect timing, anyway. It was later in the day and they could catch another sunset. They ended up taking the same car as last time, because it was still Loki’s favorite. The red and gold Lamborghini was one of Tony’s favorites, but since it was Loki’s car of choice, it became Tony’s clear favorite. Pranking JARVIS would have to wait. 

Everything about Loki was gradually becoming Tony’s favorite. Loki was funny, kind, and honestly very charming. Maybe that was why he was a supervillain; he walked into people’s lives and became the center of their world. Tony was having a hard time thinking about anyone else. 

Before they left, Tony had JARVIS rent a house out east on Long Island so they didn’t have to watch the sunset from the car. The private property was far enough away so they wouldn’t be seen, and Tony had a feeling that Loki was going to enjoy being outside. Being stuck in the tower for as long as he had was most likely suffocating, and Tony wished he’d thought of leaving sooner. 

It was about a two hour drive to the house, and they spent the time listening to music, much to Loki’s disapproval. He thought that Tony’s favorite classic rock was too loud. First R2D2, and then AC/DC. Loki was going after Tony’s heart. 

They arrived at the house just before sunset. Tony quickly gathered some blankets and some wine and brought them outside so they could sit on the beach and watch the sunset. He could barely contain his excitement, and he noticed a smile from Loki as well. 

“This is nice,” Loki stated once they got situated. 

“Really?” Tony asked.

Loki turned to Tony and stared at him with the most sincere expression he’d ever seen. “You’ve been helping me tremendously, and I have a feeling you do not realize all that you are doing.”

For some reason, he’d always had a hard time believing that he could do good things for other people. It probably had something to do with how he was raised, but it was so deeply rooted in him that he’d never been able to get it to go away. 

“I don’t know what to say,” Tony told him, which was something he’d probably never said before. He had a big mouth that sometimes got the best of him, so being speechless felt very unfamiliar. 

“There is never one right thing to say or do, Anthony,” Loki responded. 

“Since Afghanistan, I’ve spent every moment trying to do the next right thing, even if I didn’t know what it was or how to do it,” Tony told him. 

He didn’t know why he had shared that much with Loki. He trusted Loki, which might not have been the smartest thing to do, but he couldn’t choose who he trusted. It was a feeling that showed up without warning only a few times during Tony’s life. First with Jarvis and Ana, then Rhodey, Happy, Pepper, and now Loki. 

“Barton had told me briefly about what happened to you before you created your armor. I am sorry that you had to experience that.” Loki’s voice was smooth, genuine, and completely overwhelming, but in a good way. 

“It sounds completely ridiculous to say, but I needed it. I was not a good person before. It put me in line,” Tony explained. If he’d never been captured, he’d still be making weapons. He’d still be killing thousands of people. 

“And how about now?” Loki asked. 

It caught Tony off guard. How was he supposed to answer something like that?

“I don’t know,” he responded, because it was true. He had no idea, much to his dismay. “I created my suits to help people and save lives. Having the arc reactor in my chest was a reminder of what happened to me. It helped me remember not to waste my life. I got it removed and now-”

Tony paused as he tried to search for words to say, but he couldn’t find any once again. His brain must have stopped working, because this was the second time he couldn’t speak. 

“You feel like you need the device in your chest to make the right choices,” Loki said. Yeah, that’s what Tony was trying to say. 

“Do you think I’m crazy?” Tony asked. He’d never said how he felt out loud to anyone because he was nervous about what they’d think. 

Tony couldn’t hold in a soft gasp when Loki gently grabbed his hand. It wasn’t the cold temperature of Loki’s hand that surprised him. It was the fact that he initiated the contact. It meant that Loki was starting to feel more comfortable in his Jotun form. 

Loki looked down at their intertwined hands as his eyes widened. Maybe he hadn’t realized that he’d done it, like it came naturally to him in the moment that it happened. 

“I think you have a kind soul and too much weight on your shoulders, Anthony,” Loki told him in a gentle tone. “You don’t need a physical item in your chest for you to remember who you are.”

Tony  _ knew  _ that. However, it seemed like his brain didn’t work sometimes. Sometimes it was taken over with anxiety and insecurity, and it made him feel helpless. Whatever Loki was doing, intentionally or not, was grounding him. It reminded Tony that he was still alive, and that he chose his own path. An arc reactor couldn’t do that for him, and it never had in the past. It was himself who had chosen to be who he was after Afghanistan, and he was still doing it without the reactor in his chest. He was working on believing it. 

With Loki nearby, Tony felt like he could do anything. He didn’t know if that was scary or exhilarating.

“I have seen you make nothing but good choices. I have only known you for a short time but you are so good, Anthony,” Loki said with a gentle squeeze to Tony’s hand, and Tony literally  _ shivered _ , but not from the cold.

“Why are you saying these nice things to me?” Tony asked, instead of just accepting it like any normal person would. Tony had never been normal.

“I want you to trust your intuition more, because I can tell that you currently don’t.” 

“Oh,” Tony mumbled under his breath. He felt seen again, like he was the center of attention under a bunch of bright and empowering spotlights. Loki was one of the only people to make him feel that way. 

The sun was setting, and the vibrant orange and red colors surrounding the sun provided a nice contrast against the ocean below. The only sound that Tony could hear was the sound of Loki’s breath, and the smooth sound of it was calming. Everything about Loki made Tony feel calm and at peace. It had happened so quickly. Loki had become one of the most important people in Tony’s life before he could realize that it was happening. 

Tony had no idea what he was going to do when Loki eventually had to leave, but he tried not to think about it now. He wanted to have a good night in Loki’s company with the beautiful scenery around them. 

“You should trust your intuition too. I think you think that you can’t trust yourself because of your heritage. You’re not a monster, Loki,” Tony told him once he was done thinking to himself. 

“I have a hard time believing that, but I am working on it,” Loki said. He was looking down at the ground until he looked up, staring right into Tony’s eyes. “Thanks to you.” 

All this time, Tony had been trying to figure out how to do the right thing. How to do something good. He did in fact do something good, but that wasn’t what made Tony happy. He had done something good for  _ Loki,  _ and nothing could beat that feeling. 

It was at that moment when Tony had an important realization. He wanted to kiss Loki. 

He wanted to wrap his arms around Loki’s neck while he felt the chill of his lips against his own. He had an overwhelming desire to make Loki feel appreciated, because he was so important in Tony’s eyes. Tony cared about Loki, and he really wanted to make him know that. 

Instead of acting on his desires, he continued to watch the sunset with his hand held by Loki’s. It was good enough and more than he could ever ask for. He was close to Loki and perfectly content.

They sat outside for a couple of hours, close together, drinking wine, and sharing stories of their past. Loki was the most interesting person Tony had ever met, and he could listen to him speak for hours. 

Tony was doomed, and he should have figured that out earlier on. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last Chapter!! Thank you so much for reading everyone! Hosio, I hope you enjoy your exchange gift, even though it's super late :D
> 
> Once again, thank you to Arty for beta-reading this fic! You helped me so much and I appreciate you endlessly.

They spent a few days at the house, and Tony could tell that Loki was having a nice time. His horns continued to grow and his headache grew stronger, but he was still able to enjoy himself. They went to the beach during the day and stayed until Loki got hot. When they were inside, they had fun as well. There was a Wii in the living room and Tony couldn’t seem to beat Loki at Mario Kart, which was incredibly frustrating. Tony was usually better than everyone at everything, including video games, so every time Loki crossed the finish line and Tony heard Yoshi’s annoying chirps, he wanted to throw his controller across the room. 

They also ate more Cap’n Crunch, because even though Loki would never admit it, he loved the sugary cereal. Loki also made Tony try tea, and he immediately almost threw it up in the bathroom, but the sound of Loki’s gleeful laughter made it worth it. 

Loki was usually the first one in the kitchen for breakfast so when Tony arrived to find no one sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of tea, he was surprised. Tony poured two bowls of cereal and waited for about fifteen minutes, but Loki still hadn’t come downstairs. It was strange that he wasn’t awake yet, so Tony decided to go see if he was okay. 

Tony found Loki in his bedroom, standing still in front of the mirror. He had to look closely to make sure he was still breathing. (He was, thankfully). 

“I didn’t wake up with a headache this morning. I’ve been avoiding the mirror, but I was too curious,” Loki said. He didn’t shift his gaze from the mirror, as if he was stuck. 

Tony took a closer look at Loki’s horns and realized that they were done growing. They were absolutely beautiful. They’d grown quickly, ending up around the same height as the horns on Loki’s helmet. Their coloring hadn’t changed since they started to grow, appearing blue and covered with darker blue raised lines that Tony desperately wanted to touch. Tony loved the horns. They meant that there was more of Loki to take in, and Tony could never hate that. 

“Avoiding it doesn’t help,” Tony told him. 

“I didn’t want to see myself like this.” Loki’s voice was uncharacteristically small, sounding like speaking was straining for him. 

Tony could understand that. Loki had been raised to despise the Jotnar, so finding out he was one had been traumatic. It still was, and not being able to control his appearance after that was a lot for him to handle. Tony wished that there was more that he could do to help. He was trying to help him feel more comfortable, but ultimately, Loki would have to accept himself on his own. 

“You have to look at yourself eventually,” Tony told him. 

“I know,” Loki said with a resigned sigh. “This doesn’t feel like me.”

Maybe Tony wasn’t thinking, because he rested his hand gently on Loki’s arm and said, “I think you’ve been through a lot, and you need to take the time to figure out who you are without anyone influencing you.” 

He hoped he hadn’t been too harsh. He’d never thought through how he spoke to other people that much in the past, but Loki was different. 

Loki turned to him with wide eyes. “You say this to the man who tried to take over your realm?” 

“Like Frigga said, you can’t be judged on your actions when you were under someone else’s influence.” Tony knew that Loki’s life would have played out much differently if Odin hadn’t used the scepter on him. 

“I do not deserve your kindness.” 

“You deserve to be happy, Loki,” Tony told him. “And I think you make a beautiful Jotun.” 

Okay. Maybe he  _ really  _ wasn’t thinking, because how Tony felt about Loki wasn’t even something he had to think about anymore. He was always present in his mind. 

Loki inhaled sharply. “What?” 

“Well, to start, I think blue looks great on you. The lines going across your skin make a beautiful pattern, and it’s almost hard for me to keep my eyes off of you.” Once Tony started, it felt like he couldn’t stop. “The contrast of textures is so interesting, just like you.” 

After a brief moment of shock, Loki’s face softened. “I have been alive for over 1,000 years and I have never met anyone as interesting as you.” 

Tony couldn’t do anything but stare at him because  _ wow,  _ that was quite the compliment. 

It wasn’t the right time to kiss him. Not right after he was having a moment. Tony was determined to find a good opportunity to kiss him soon, because he wasn’t sure how much longer he could wait. 

They spent the rest of their day trying their best to have a good time. Loki was feeling better, but it was easy for Tony to see that he was acting reserved. Tony ordered ice cream for them that night because even though he couldn’t fix all of his problems, ice cream always helped. Loki liked mint chocolate chip, which was good, because Tony had never understood people who disliked his favorite flavor. 

The next morning, Loki was seated at the kitchen table when Tony woke up. Everything felt right in the world. Instead of getting Cap’n Crunch for the two of them to eat like he normally would have, he walked over to Loki and gently guided him out of his seat. Loki was tall, even taller with his horns, but Tony loved the sight of Loki looking down at him with a surprised expression, most likely confused as to why he was forced out of his chair so early in the morning. 

“Can I kiss you?” Tony asked. 

“I admit, this was not what I expected the reasoning for you pulling me out of my seat to be,” Loki said with a slight quirk of his lips. 

“I guess I’m full of surprises,” Tony smirked. “May I?” 

“You may,” Loki said in a soft tone. 

Just like Tony had been imagining, he wrapped his arms around Loki’s neck as he guided him into a kiss. Tony felt himself shudder at the contact, and he wasn’t sure if it was due to the chill of Loki’s lips or the ending of his built up anticipation. It felt like he’d been wanting to kiss Loki for so long, even though it really hadn’t been. Tony supposed there was some type of attraction towards Loki that had been present since the first time he’d broken into his workshop. 

Tony felt two cold hands press against the sides of his waist as their kiss deepened. It meant that Loki wanted this too. Tony was pretty sure he was smiling into the kiss, but he didn’t care. 

When they pulled apart, Tony’s breath was shaky, but he didn’t mind. He had kissed  _ Loki _ . 

He could feel his excitement flowing through his veins. He hadn’t felt this good in a long time. It was crazy what Loki could do to him. 

“So, that was fun,” Tony said.

Loki chuckled, and it sounded like music to Tony’s ears. “It was.”

“We could do it again, if you’d like,” Tony offered. 

“I would like that,” Loki responded, but before Tony could initiate another kiss, he added, “But I would like to appreciate this moment first.” 

“I didn’t expect you to be such a sap.” 

“Is it so wrong to want to remember how wonderful it felt to kiss you for the first time?” 

“Only if it takes too long.” Tony already missed the feeling of Loki’s lips on his own. 

Did this mean that Loki had been wanting to kiss Tony as well? If he wanted to take in the moment, did that mean that he had been anticipating it? There was something comforting about not being the only one to imagine them kissing and being together. They definitely had things that they should talk about, but Tony didn’t want to think about it at the moment. All he cared about was Loki, and his beautiful, cool lips that felt amazing against his own. 

“You are magnificent, Anthony. I hope you know that,” Loki told him with a genuine expression. 

How could he not, when it was Loki who was telling him?

“Let me further prove to you how magnificent I am with another kiss,” he said with a wink. 

“Oh fine, if you insist,” Loki replied with a mischievous grin. 

Tony kissed him again, and it was just as good as the first time. He knew that every kiss would feel just as amazing, because it was Loki who he was kissing.

They kissed for a while, and eventually got into other things. 

The following days were some of the best that Tony had ever had. They moved back into the tower after they both felt beached out, but their last night was spent outside watching the sunset. When Loki pressed a gentle kiss to Tony’s temple, Tony couldn’t stop thinking about how lucky he was. 

There were times when Loki still felt upset about being a Jotun. His seidr continued to fail to change his appearance no matter how hard he tried. As the days went on, Loki didn’t get stuck in front of the mirror as long as he had in the beginning. Tony would kiss him and remind him that he was beautiful and most of the time, it was enough to cheer him up. Tony never wanted Loki to do anything but smile.

When Tony had to go to meetings for Stark Industries business he had been putting off for too long, he was sad that he had to be away from Loki for so long. They had spent so much time together in each other’s company, that Tony had almost forgotten what it was like to have to see other people. He was worried about leaving Loki alone even though he had insisted he would be okay. 

The meetings were agonizingly long. Pepper gave him an excessive amount of paperwork to sign, and he was so uncomfortable in the suit that he had to wear. It had been months since the last time he had dressed up. 

However, Pepper did notice that there was something different about him from the last time they’d seen each other. She noticed that Tony was  _ happy.  _ She was glad that Tony found someone who made him look as bright as the sun, even though he couldn’t tell her who he was. Tony couldn’t tell anyone that Loki was on Earth, but he imagined both her and the Avengers’ reactions would not be that good. He was fine with keeping Loki a secret, if it meant that he had him all to himself. Except maybe he would eventually tell Rhodey, because keeping anything from his best friend was hard. 

When Tony finally returned to his penthouse, Loki was seated on the couch with a tablet in hand. Tony remembered when he had first introduced tablets to him and he had complained about not reading from actual pages. The god had grown up so much. 

“I missed you,” Tony immediately said as a greeting. 

“This tower is incredibly boring without you.”

“JARVIS and the bots weren’t good enough company?” 

Loki chuckled lowly. “I suppose, but I cannot kiss JARVIS and the bots.”

“I hope you didn’t try to!” Tony said with laughter flowing through his words. 

“He did not, Sir,” JARVIS intervened. 

Loki placed his tablet on the end table, stood up from the couch, and then approached Tony. He leaned down and kissed him, much too gentle for Tony’s liking, but Loki always started their kisses like that. Tony thought it was sweet how Loki always wanted to savor their kisses, but after a long day of meetings, all he wanted was to feel him, and a peck was too soft. Tony deepened the kiss, and Loki’s tongue was cold, but Tony loved the sensation of it. 

As their kiss deepened even further, Loki gradually moved Tony so his back was pressed against the wall. Not sure what to do with his hands, Tony grabbed both of Loki’s horns, causing him to moan into the kiss. He had no idea that Loki’s horns were so sensitive, but he immediately thought of all of the possibilities. 

“These are so convenient,” Tony said between breaths. 

Loki let out a sound similar to a snort, and it wasn’t something Tony had ever expected to hear from a god. 

“Like love handles!” Tony exclaimed.

“Stop talking, Anthony,” Loki said before pressing another kiss to his lips. 

Tony made sure to shut up. 

There was no need for Tony to meet Loki in the kitchen for breakfast anymore, since they were sharing a bed. However, there were some mornings when Loki woke up before Tony, so he’d go ahead and make himself a cup of tea. It was interesting how Tony’s sleep schedule had gotten much better since Loki came into his life. It was rare for him to fall asleep after midnight. The last time he had multiple full nights of sleep in a row had been when he was a child. 

Having Loki in bed with him made him feel safe. It was also nice to have his own personal air conditioning beside him. 

So when Tony woke up to find the other side of the bed empty, it wasn’t a huge surprise, but it had only happened a few times since Tony had kissed him for the first time. 

The bigger surprise was seeing Loki in the living room with green eyes and pale skin. Tony had to do a double take, it had been so long since he’d seen Loki without blue skin and horns. He’d almost forgotten what Loki had looked like the first time they’d met in Stuttgart. 

This version of Loki was just as beautiful as he was as a Jotun. His raven black hair provided a striking contrast against the paleness of his skin, and Tony almost forgot how to breathe. As much as Tony loved seeing Loki in his Asgardian form, his heart began to pound in his ears because he didn’t know what was going to happen next. Now that he could change his form whenever he wanted, would he leave? Did he need Tony anymore? Tony certainly needed Loki. 

“When I first started staying here, I tried changing back every morning just to fail every time,” Loki started to explain, most likely noticing how surprised Tony was. “When I’m around you, I’d sometimes forget that I was wearing my Jotun skin. How could I possibly be upset about it when you make me so happy?” 

“What changed?” Tony asked. 

Loki’s eyes widened for a brief moment. “Nothing, Anthony. I only realized that it’s been over a week since the last time I had tried to change my form, and it worked. I can feel my seidr is stronger, and it does not feel as straining to use it.” 

“Oh,” was all that Tony could manage to say. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about how relieved Loki must be. The lack of control was excruciating for him, even though he had been feeling better about it as time went on. The ability to control his shapeshifting and illusions was something that Loki hadn’t been able to do for months, so to have that back again must have made him really happy. 

Tony was happy for him. He really was, even though he didn’t know what it meant for the two of them. 

“It isn’t as comfortable as it used to be. My skin feels too tight and unnatural, but I am able to control my appearance.” 

“That’s great, Loki,” Tony told him. 

“Yes,” Loki agreed. “What’s wrong?” 

Tony sighed. He thought that he’d done an alright job at hiding his feelings. “I really am happy your seidr is working again,” he began to say. He took a shaky breath before he could get himself to continue speaking. “I just don’t want you to leave. I’m sorry if that’s selfish, but now there isn’t anything keeping you here and I really don’t know what I’d do if you went back to Asgard.”

Loki’s face softened, showing that he wasn’t mad. That was good. He took a few steps towards Tony and took him into his arms before placing a gentle kiss to the top of his head. “I have no desire to go back to Asgard, Anthony,” he said lowly, his lips still hovering above his hair, 

Tony looked up at Loki to find him staring down at him with kind eyes. His eyes were so green and Tony felt entranced by them. “You don’t?”

“No. I do not belong in Asgard, I belong here.” 

“Good, because I don’t want you anywhere else,” Tony said contently. 

As much as Tony was happy to see Loki in his Asgardian form, he didn’t want Loki to lose all of the progress he had made in his Jotun form. It had taken a lot of time for him to feel somewhat comfortable in his skin, and Tony didn’t want Loki to strain his seidr again and have to start from the beginning. 

“Will you shift into your Jotun form, too? I miss your horns,” Tony said with a dramatic pout. 

“I still do not love the idea of appearing as a Jotun, but I realize it is something that I still need to work on,” Loki responded. “I can’t do it without you.”

“I will be here for you every step of the way, Lokes, but I don’t think you need me anymore. Remember yesterday when you laughed after I joked about your horns? You don’t realize it, but you are feeling more comfortable in your Jotun form,” Tony told him. 

Loki gave him a calculating look, and Tony could practically see the gears turning in his head. “I suppose you’re right.”

“I’m right pretty often. I’m a billionaire,  _ genius _ , playboy, philanthropist, remember?” 

“Not much of a playboy anymore,” Loki said with a smirk on his face. 

Tony let out a burst of laughter. “No, there is only one person I have my eyes on.” 

Loki leaned down and kissed Tony. Tony was surprised to find that Loki’s lips still left a chill against his own even though he wasn’t in his Jotun form. His body temperature must naturally stay low, and he really hoped that Loki would let him do some tests because he was extremely curious about what happened to his bodily functions when he shapeshifted. Tony honestly wanted to know how all of his magic worked, because it was absolutely fascinating. Everything about Loki was fascinating, but that could be dealt with later. It felt like they had all of the time in the world to spend together. 

“So what do we do now?” Tony asked. 

“I don’t know. Perhaps we can simply enjoy each other’s company over some Cap’n Crunch?” Loki suggested. 

That sounded like a good plan to Tony. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap!!!
> 
> Feel free to follow me on tumblr and twitter @honestmischeif! I'd love to talk frostiron, fic, or anything!


End file.
